Download here our full activity report
2024 will have been a year of learning, but in spite of ourselves: the life of our association is not always smooth sailing, and mistakes are a source of learning.
In Brussels, with the funding approvals from the Region, a certain stability is emerging for our street and housing teams. After years of uncertain funding – or no funding at all – this is a welcome element of stability in a more uncertain social context. In Liège, unexpected funding has enabled us to preserve our team, but nothing is guaranteed for the future. Nevertheless, we are determined to take advantage of this new term of office to make progress in ensuring the long-term future of our work. We are also planning to set up our modular accommodation in Liège from 2025.
The lack of accommodation, which is more acute in Brussels than in Liège at the moment, appears to be one of the two major constraints on our work, and that of other associations, even threatening to close certain projects. For the first time since 2018, we have not managed to find the accommodation we needed for our patients, some of whom have therefore remained on the street. And we expect the situation to get even worse in 2025!
The issue of people without papers is the second constraint that has arisen in recent years, with more and more homeless people without papers among the most vulnerable, but for whom we feel powerless: without rights, and without hope of regularisation, what can we do? We have decided to look into this issue, with the firm intention of finding ways to rehouse these people as well.
Thanks to a grant from the Foundation Roi Baudoin, we have been able to prepare the introduction of a new role on the ground: psychologists, who will help the team to behave appropriately towards all our patients; who will help us to better understand their mental health problems; and above all, thanks to an investment from the mental health care network, to better refer them to mental health professionals who can help them in the long term. Our generalist team provides support and creates the conditions for recovery, but we need professionals specialised in this care who can take over.
Our housing foundation CASA+ has officially existed since April 2024. Its objective is to facilitate, by all possible means, the provision of housing for our patients, and ultimately for all homeless people.
The initial contacts made and the projects discussed in 2024 have provided a better understanding - sometimes a little painfully - of the possibilities and constraints of this activity. In 2025, we will meet with a series of partners to refine the operating model, clarify the financial constraints, and then begin the search for public and private funds. We are aware that this work will only produce tangible results in the long term, but it is essential to put an end to homelessness.
Finally, our advocacy team has worked hard, as on 14 March 2024, the Brussels government adopted the principle of a quota of social housing reserved each year for homeless people. A great success and a way for us to secure what is gradually becoming the crux of the war we are waging on homelessness: access to affordable housing.
Dr Pierre Ryckmans, co-coordinator and medical supervisor