Breaking the Cycle

In this year’s round of grants, we’re placing a special focus on mental health support for people who become homeless, providing £100,000 in funding for projects that support their health and well-being.

Adverse childhood experiences

Research in recent years has established a close link between childhood trauma and homelessness. Roughly 90% of people sleeping rough have been exposed to one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) when they were young, and half of people sleeping rough have experienced 4 or more ACEs.

It can be things such as:

• parental neglect or maltreatment
• physical or sexual abuse
• the absence or loss of one or both parents
• witnessing domestic violence
• extreme poverty (for example not having enough food to eat)
• having a parent with substance/alcohol addiction or mental illness

The effects of complex trauma

People who have experienced such things in childhood – especially where it was prolonged, repeated exposure - are at a much higher risk of homelessness later in life.

It can lead to mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD, as well as a range of other symptoms, including difficulty controlling emotions, negative self-image, and problems forming and maintaining healthy relationships. They may also have difficulty maintaining stable housing.

Some people stay in permanent alert mode as if danger could return any time. Others relive past traumatic events continuously and/or become completely numb, appearing indifferent and emotionally detached. People then become isolated and often feel as though they don’t matter, and over time can develop harmful behaviours as a way of coping, such as substance misuse.

Substance addiction

If someone has experienced traumatic events and doesn’t have a strong network of family or friends they can turn to for support, they may try to cope with the intense negative thoughts and feelings triggered by past experiences by self-medicating with alcohol or other substances. This can quickly lead to substance addiction and all the harm that can bring.

The damaging impact of sleeping rough

Becoming homeless can be re-traumatising in itself, aggravating existing issues caused by early trauma. The longer you stay on the streets, the more detrimental the impact on your health, relationships, confidence, trust in people, sense of safety, and aspirations and hopes for the future. Your world shrinks, your focus becomes survival.

As time goes by, the more likely a person is to develop multiple and complex support needs. People can find it progressively more difficult to trust any services. This can leave them stuck with little or no support, leading highly damaging lives.

Support

All of this means that people who are street homeless often have complex needs, which can make it challenging to access and engage with services. It is vital to find a way to re-engage and connect with such people, to help them find a way out of their situation.

With the right expert help, people can start to address the root causes of their homelessness, allowing them to begin to move on. In time, it can lead to some amazing outcomes for people: becoming housed in stable accommodation for the first time in many years; seeking help for a long-held addiction; reconnecting with family & friends.

This year, we’re proud to be providing £100,000 in funding for four amazing projects that reach some of the most entrenched rough sleepers, giving people the professional help and support they need to improve their mental health and wider well-being, so they can leave homelessness in the past:

• Mental health drop-in centre (£25,000 grant) - drop-in mental health clinic at a soup kitchen, offering immediate access to therapy
• Outreach psychotherapy (£25,000 grant) - psychotherapy support on the streets, reaching entrenched rough sleepers where they are
• Addictions treatment programme (£25,000 grant) - residential addictions treatment programme, offering regular one-to-one addictions counselling & group therapy
• Recovery programme (£25,000 grant) - groups and activities (gardening, art, music therapy, photography, creative writing and more) that support people’s recovery from street homelessness, re-building trust and hope