Chapter 5: Homelessness and Peer Work

Housing is a fundamental need for all humans. A roof over our heads can provide safety, warmth and stability. Once we have this stability, our physical and mental health is more likely to be managed effectively. However, housing, or indeed a roof, is not something everyone has the privilege of experiencing. Housing policy across the globe is dominated by capitalistic thinking: the profit becomes the priority. Those marginalised, traumatised and stigmatised suffer the most, many having to access inadequate homeless shelters, still more sleeping on our cold streets. Current service provision favours the middle class. In these circumstances ill-health manifests, responses are often inadequate, yet some innovations develop. Housing First seeks to reach into the homeless population and provide housing to those most entrenched, while Safetynet seeks to provide health-related services to those homeless and experiencing other related problems. Both interventions understand the role peers can play in providing these services.