A decade on: Danny Maher, CHC

Danny Maher, CEO, CHCDanny Maher, CEO of CHC, has been working in the homelessness sector for 12 years... Here, he shares his thoughts on the milestones the sector has made over the last decade (since CONNECT launched in 2000) and considers the challenges that are now facing homelessness services.

What do you think are the biggest milestones / achievements of the homelessness sector over the past 10 years?

  • The reduction of the number of people sleeping rough and the increase in partnership working between agencies.  
  • The Government's commitment, via funding and guidance, to improve the the physical environments of hostels and day centres. 
  • Treating and 'seeing' people who are without a home as customers rather than problems 
  • More sophisticated professional and skilled staffing resources
  • A commitment to moving away from the warehousing paternalistic approach to welfare support of the past.
And the disappointments?
Inadequate resources for services delivering support to people with psychological/emotional problems and the poor connection with the 'community' - contributing to the continued ghettoisation of those without homes.
 
What do you hope will happen in the next ten years?
  • Provide choices that people without homes can realistically chose from
  • Accreditation for centres of excellence
  • A greater working together to prevent further homelessness.
How has CHC's work changed over the years?
Massively. We have moved from a single issue homeless charity inadvertently maintaining negative lifestyles to the opposite i.e. creating an environment where people without homes are supported in a community setting, where there are high expectations of everyone associated with our charity.
 
A Place of Change applies to all of us, not just customers. Personal responsibility is a key driver in all our work supporting all of us to develop and positively change.

What's next for the homelessness sector? What are the challenges now?
  • New homeless communities e.g. parts of Eastern Europe.
  • Being able to react effectively to the expected fallout from the current economic storm affecting us all A greater focus on prevention
How can we prevent more people from ending up homeless in the future?
By creating a professional evidenced based initial assessment process designed to support the individual, as quickly as possible, away from homelessness. We also need to campaign for a greater understanding by politicians and decision makers, of how people become homeless.

Find out more

To find out more about CHC visit: www.chc.org.uk