In the Eindhoven region, ‘invisible’ roof and homeless will be counted on Tuesday. These are people who often do not see themselves as homeless because they live in a recreation park, live anti-squatters, stay with friends or sleep in their car. They have no home, but are not known to the official reception organizations. As a result, they do not get extra help.
Earlier counts showed that there are twice more invisible homeless people for every visible homeless.
Eindhoven is participating in this count for the first time this year. This is done by having dozens of authorities such as community centers, general practitioners, home cooperatives, churches and healthcare institutions completed questionnaires. “They know these invisible homeless people because they are aware of their private situation,” explains Monique van der Heijden of the municipality of Eindhoven.
A total of 15 municipalities in and around Eindhoven participate. “With the results, the municipalities can make better policy to help those invisible homeless people,” Monique explains the importance of the municipality. “For example, it is about young people or the elderly who need shelter? That requires a different approach. You want to prevent people from getting deeper into trouble as soon as they have no shelter.”
In 2023, Den Bosch and Oss were the first to participate in this count. The outcome was then that there were more than 1000 invisible homeless, compared to 500 visible. Since then there has been the ‘living first’ approach there. By quickly giving people a roof over the head by people without serious psychological problems or addictions, they can solve their problems faster.
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“They can rather concentrate on finding work, following a course or focusing on personal development,” Thijs Honig responded earlier. He is director of De Bosch social relief and closely involved in the count at the time in 2023.
He recently announced that the Den Bosch region helped 178 homeless people with a home with ‘living first’. Yet Honig is not yet completely satisfied with the results of the past two years. “At the start of this project we counted 1,008 homeless people in Den Bosch and surrounding municipalities. So many people have not been helped.” It is not clear whether the number of invisible homeless people is increasing because the count is not held annually because it is labor -intensive.
In the meantime, the research into the number of invisible homeless people has expanded to nine regions in the Netherlands. Eight October the last digits will be presented. Monique van der Heijden will take various addresses on Tuesday that participate in the count in the Eindhoven region. She points out those organizations the importance of sharing the data of invisible homeless people.
Little is needed to hit homeless. It can be through a divorce or losing a job. “Because these people are not visible because they are bivouaced with family or friends, they do not get the right help” Monique “says” You want to make sure that it is precisely these people without addiction or psychological problems that I can continue quickly. What I am shocked by is that we do not see the most homeless people and that one in five is a minor. “
