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Homelessness Awareness Week 2025: #SeeThePerson
Discover how Extern Homes offers people the chance to begin again with dignity and support.
Homelessness Awareness Week 2025 is an important opportunity to shine a light on the realities faced by people experiencing homelessness across Northern Ireland. It encourages communities, organisations, and policymakers to challenge misconceptions, understand the human stories behind the statistics, and take action to support those in need.
This year’s theme, #SeeThePerson, calls on all of us to look beyond labels and recognise the dignity, resilience, and potential in every individual who is experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
How Extern Supports People Experiencing Homelessness
Extern delivers a wide range of homelessness services across Northern Ireland, providing safe accommodation, practical support, and trauma-informed care for individuals and families. Our work includes:
Extern Homes
- Provides safe, stable accommodation with tailored support to help tenants maintain their tenancy and move toward permanent housing.
- Over 95% of tenants sustain or successfully move on from Extern Homes.
Hostels and Referral Pathways
- Extern operates four hostels across Belfast and Mid-Ulster, offering essential accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.
- We accept referrals from Extern services and a wide range of partner organisations to ensure the most vulnerable receive timely support.
Homelessness Prevention Forum
- Extern, in partnership with NIACRO, chairs the Homelessness Prevention Forum, working collaboratively to prevent homelessness and improve outcomes across the region.
Multi-Disciplinary Homeless Support Team
- Our team provides trauma-informed support, advocacy, and practical assistance to adults and families who are homeless or at risk and have complex additional needs.
Supporting People with an Offending Background
- Since 1978, Extern has supported people with an offending background, helping to keep communities safer.
- We currently operate two specialist facilities for individuals who have been through the criminal justice system, offering structured support to help them reintegrate and build stability.
In 2024–25, Extern supported 1,618 individuals, helping people move from crisis toward independence and long-term stability.
The Scale of the Challenge
Homelessness continues to be a significant issue across Northern Ireland. As of 30 September 2024, there were 48,366 households on the social housing waiting list, highlighting a severe shortage of safe and affordable housing. This lack of available homes forces many people into temporary accommodation, overcrowded living arrangements, or unstable housing situations.
Children are among the most at risk. Between October 2023 and September 2024, 6,893 children aged 0–17 were accepted as homeless. The impact of homelessness on children can be profound - affecting their health, education, emotional wellbeing, and sense of security. Families face immense stress and uncertainty, making the need for stable housing even more urgent.
"Seeing the person first - not their struggles - changes everything. It supports people, restores hope, and helps build futures where they can live with dignity, stability, and confidence.”
Homelessness rarely has a single cause. Many people face overlapping challenges, including poverty, poor mental or physical health, addiction, domestic abuse, and barriers within housing or welfare systems. These interconnected issues highlight that homelessness is not just a housing problem - it is a wider social and health challenge that requires coordinated, compassionate, and long-term solutions.
At Extern, we provide more than accommodation. Our trauma-informed approach ensures people receive wraparound support that helps them rebuild their lives, access vital services, and take positive steps toward stability. The latest statistics reinforce the scale of the challenge, and the urgent need for prevention, investment, and community support to ensure everyone has a safe place to call home.
Making a Difference
Every person we support has a unique story. Extern’s person-centred and trauma-informed approach ensures that we see the individual first - their strengths, goals, and potential.
Whether reconnecting someone with family, supporting them through addiction recovery, helping them learn new skills, or simply offering a compassionate listening ear, our teams walk alongside people at every stage of their journey out of homelessness.
Understanding the Barriers People Face
People experiencing homelessness often face multiple, complex barriers, including:
- Mental or physical ill health
- Substance use or addiction
- Domestic or family breakdown
- Poverty and financial instability
- Lack of affordable housing
- Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
- Systemic barriers within housing, health, and welfare services
By recognising these challenges and delivering trauma-informed support, we provide services that meet real needs and create lasting change.
“We see every person’s strengths, not their struggles.” — Emma
Emma Purdon, reflects on the heart of our work:
“#SeeThePerson isn’t just a theme for a week - it's how we work every single day. When someone comes through our doors, we don’t just see their current challenges or circumstances. We see their potential, their resilience, and their capacity to rebuild their life. Every person has strengths, skills, and dreams, and our role is to help them harness those qualities and access the right support to thrive.
Whether it’s helping someone secure stable housing, reconnect with their family, access education or employment opportunities, or overcome the effects of trauma, we walk alongside them every step of the way. Seeing the person first - not their struggles - changes everything. It supports people, restores hope, and helps build futures where they can live with dignity, stability, and confidence.”
How You Can Help During Homelessness Awareness Week 2025
You can make a meaningful difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness by:
- Donating to help sustain and grow Extern’s vital homelessness services
- Volunteering your time or skills to support our work
- Advocating for change by raising awareness, sharing stories, and using your voice to champion those affected by homelessness
For more information about our homelessness services visit here