Homeless count: many young adults, a quarter are minors

In our province, the district of Bruges, Midwest and the Central Coast were screened. “The stereotypical image of a drug-addicted homeless person is outdated. It also concerns single mothers with children, people without papers or people who are at risk of being evicted,” says Professor Koen Hermans of KU Leuven. District of Bruges

In the district of Bruges, 904 homeless people were counted. Most of them live with relatives, in an institution or in a shelter for the homeless. 1 in 4 is a minor. It is striking here that many homeless people have a history in youth care (12%) or in prison (17%)

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Zone Midwest

In the Midwest zone (Roeselaar region) 793 homeless people were counted. Here too, the majority stay with relatives, in a shelter for the homeless or in an institution. It is striking here that many large families are homeless or homeless.

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Mid Coast

1,126 homeless people have been counted on the Central Coast, which is a lot for such a small region. 339 people stay with relatives and 121 live in a shelter for the homeless. But there are also 37 people who ‘live’ in a public space, such as a station. Most adult homeless people were counted in Ostend (505), followed by Bredene (34) and Middelkerke (33).

Natacha Waldmann, alderman of Welfare Ostend: “The figures are now known and we note certain trends that were previously mapped out in our annual report. For example, we have a good overview of the target group of single people and the assistance network is already being strongly involved. At the same time, we see that families often remain under the radar because they are taken care of by relatives or friends. Fortunately, in our region, unlike in some other regions, not a single child sleeps on the street. This report therefore offers us leverage to adjust and strengthen our policy, together with the partners and the local authorities in the region.”

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