The thirteenth FEAD Network meeting took place on 6-7 November in Brussels, Belgium welcoming 88 delegates from 24 Member states. It focused on how FEAD support has assisted in tackling homelessness across the EU.

The two-day event brought together EU-wide stakeholders, such as Managing Authorities, European Commission representatives and regional and national organisations within Europe.

With panel discussions and group workshops, delegates were able to understand the different approaches to tackling homelessness. They also had the opportunity to learn about award winning projects showcased at the FEANTSA Ending Homelessness Awards 2018 organised jointly with the FEAD meeting.

The homelessness situation in Europe

The first day of the meeting began with a welcoming address by Jan Behrens, policy officer at the Directorate-general for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Presentations were followed with a mix of perspectives including: Freek Spinnewijn (director of FEANTSA) and Olga Martinez-de-Briones (policy officer at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion).

Both gave an insight into the varying definitions of homelessness, reasons for why the situation in Europe is escalating as well as the EU policies that are currently in place to tackle them.

During the panel discussion chaired by Freek Spinnewijn delegates were introduced individual projects that are actively involved in tackling homelessness in their country. Projects included the Greek Housing Network, Focus Ireland and Kralji Ulice from Slovenia. Representatives from these projects discussed the details and challenges of their particular work.

This insightful panel provided delegates with a perfect springboard for their interactive session, where they shared what approaches were being used in their countries in the context of FEAD. Delegates also learnt about how FEAD is used to help homeless people in Germany and Italy.

The second day focused on the Housing First Approach. This innovative approach is used to tackle chronic cases of homelessness by providing permanent housing to beneficiaries first. This is used rather than a ‘staircase’ approach, which requires beneficiaries to go through various temporary housing such as shelters before attaining a permanent residence.

Delegates watched a panel discussion with representatives from the Czech Platform for Social Housing (Czech Republic) Y-Foundation (Finland), and Limor (the Netherlands). These representatives had specific insight into implementing this approach in their own countries and fielded questions from delegates.

Later, with presentations from Focus Ireland and fio.PSD (Italy), delegates ended the meeting with their final interactive discussion that explored the changing profile of homelessness. During the meeting, delegates were also encouraged to give suggestions for the topics of FEAD Network meeting in 2019.

FEANTSA Ending Homelessness Awards 2018

As well as the 13^th FEAD Network meeting, delegates got to witness FEAD funded projects being awarded for their efforts to end homelessness across Europe.

Following an introduction by Freek Spinnewijn and Marie-Anne Paraskevas (senior policy officer at the European Commission), the awards were presented by Marian Harkin (MEP). The winners were:

• Gold winner: Frostschutzengel Plus (GEBEWO and Caritas, Germany) provides healthcare and social counselling for homeless people and newly arrived EU citizens in Berlin.
• Silver winner: Kirkens Korshær Kompasset (Denmark) assists vulnerable and homeless EU migrants, giving them a range of tools to successfully integrate them into the Danish society.
• Bronze winner: Better Health (The City of Gothenburg, Sweden) aims to help vulnerable, unemployed and homeless women who are European nationals residing in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm.

To learn more about the awards, visit the FEANTSA website.

Interactive activities

Throughout the two days, delegates were encouraged to interact with the FEAD Network Facebook group. The online space aims to connect members, encourage discussion and share the latest policy news. Delegates successfully shared their pictures, discussion points and presentations from the meeting.

Join the Facebook group today to keep up to date with FEAD and to view photos from the meeting. If you know someone who hasn’t joined already, invite them to the group today.