Charity aims to break down homeless stereotypes

Joni Nettleship said the charity could have helped her when she was homeless

A new charity in Guernsey hopes to break down stereotypes of what being homeless looks like.

On Wednesday, the Community Foundation launched the charity "At Home in Guernsey" - which will provide one-to-one support to people who are homeless and those who are at risk.

It has been working with a number of other charities who have been helping their service users with issues relating to accommodation.

Joni Nettleship, working to support the charity, said something similar would have helped her when she was homeless.

She and her four children lived with a family member when they were without accommodation about nine years ago.

Ms Nettleship said: "I think it is really important that people know that homelessness, especially hidden homelessness in Guernsey, is probably closer to them than they think.

"I've spoken to other colleagues and other people that I know and when they'd had no secure, permanent home of their own and were making alternative arrangements -they didn't think of themselves as homeless, either.

"If I had known about this charity, it if it had existed when I found myself in that situation, it may have taken some of the fear away because it's a very vulnerable position to be in and it's quite a scary place as well."

She said people's definitions of homelessness "are really changing".

"Having this charity now, it's really going to help those conversations start, and it's going to hopefully be somewhere that people who may not even think of themselves as homeless can go and get the support that they need," she said.

'The right direction'

Mary Herve, co-ordinator for Caring for Ex-offenders in Guernsey, said many charities had been helping to form the new charity.

She said: "Obviously we need the accommodation, and this new charity isn't providing accommodation, but will be able to support people who are homeless and be able to point them in the right direction and signpost them to the correct charities and other organisations that perhaps can help them."

In 2023, average house prices fell, but rents continued to increase.

Ms Herve said in the last decade, Guernsey had seen the "property and accommodation problem become more difficult".

"Having a charity like this means that it will take some of the pressure off us so that we can do the work that we are meant to be doing, and it means that we can signpost our service users to this charity if it's appropriate," she said.