FEANTSA Ending Homelessness Awards 2017

What are the awards?

2017 marks sixty years of the European Social Fund (ESF). To celebrate this anniversary, FEANTSA presented gold, silver and bronze awards to innovative, sustainable ESF-funded projects that have improved the lives of homeless people since 2010.

Why were they given?

FEANTSA hopes that the awards will be an opportunity to showcase the good work done with ESF, so that it can provide inspiration to Managing Authorities and beneficiaries to do more good work with ESF in the future. The awards are part of FEANTSA's Be Fair Europe - Stand up for Homeless People campaign, an aim of which is to promote the investment of EU funds in ending homelessness.

Who will decide?

The panel of judges for the awards will be made up of:

·         Freek Spinnewijn – FEANTSA

·         Marie-Anne Paraskevas – European Commission

·         Caroline Van der Linden – Agence Fonds social européen, Belgium

·         Leo Williams - EAPN 

.         Denis Haveaux, Director, Red Cross EU Office

.         Anna Ludwinek, Eurofound

 Where and when were they given?

The awards were given at the Regiostars awards ceremony in Brussels on 10 October 2017, World Homelessness Day, and the winners will have the opportunity to present their projects at the 2018 FEANTSA Policy Conference as well as having their work included in a best practice handbook.

Meet the Winners!

Gold: Ending Family Homelessness through Housing First in Brno: A Randomised Control - implemented by the City of Brno, Czech Republic

This project aims to test and showcase whether family homelessness of both Roma and non-Roma families can be ended through a Housing First approach. Fifty homeless families are provided housing and intensive Housing First case management. As Roma families make up for two thirds of all families experiencing longterm homelessness in Brno, the expertise of IQ Roma Servis is essential. So far, the project has demonstrated positive impacts on family well-being, children’s behaviour, security and employment. The project is expected to have positive effects in the future on family reunification, school attendance, physical and psychological health, family budgets, and the overall quality of life. If the results are positive after a 12-month evaluation, the city of Brno will adapt the Housing First approach to all homeless families in the city.

Silver: A Home that Fits - implemented by the Helsinki City Youth Department

The goal of A Home that Fits is simple, yet ambitious: making sure that by 2018 every young person in Helsinki has a place to call home. With a relatively small budget, The Helsinki City Youth Department decided to look for existing places that would allow young people between 18-25 years to be housed. They came up with five solutions: communal housing, living with the elderly, seasonal housing combined with a summer job, housing combined with working for the neighbourhood and a digital platform combining housing, work and social interaction.

Bronze: Housing First Transition - implemented by the Glasgow Homelessness Network

The Housing First Transition project is a unique pilot project in Glasgow, intended to end repeated and multiple exclusion homelessness in Scotland. By researching, developing and testing a regional Housing First transition, the Glasgow Homelessness Network hopes to design a clear pathway for a safe Housing First transition, which can eventually lead to scaling up the method across the city. The project is a unique and exciting collaboration of agencies. It is the first time that a rotating Housing First Transition Fund has been designed to support the transition to Housing First.

If you would like more information about the winners, please consult the Best Practice Handbook or contact Emma Nolan to be put in touch with the project organisers.