Berlin, 12.11.2024 – The Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen e.V. Berlin (SkF Berlin) organized a workshop in Brussels on 4 and 5 November 2024 together with the EU platform EPOCH[1] (European Platform on Combatting Homelessness) on the topic of women and homelessness. The focus was on the Housing First approach for women.
The aim of the workshop was to sensitize and educate decision-makers from European Union countries to the challenges and solutions in the area of women’s housing shortages.
Representatives from Ireland, Italy, Spain and other EU countries took part in the event. In an intensive working atmosphere, employees of SkF Berlin and a woman formerly affected by homelessness presented comprehensive insights into the specific needs and challenges of homeless women. Together with the participants, they developed concrete solutions to develop and implement women-specific Housing First programs in their respective countries.
All participants agreed that the image of housing shortages must change, particularly with regard to women. Only then can suitable service structures be established for this target group.
Another item on the workshop agenda was a visit to the European Parliament to discuss the housing shortage specific to women and at the same time provide political impetus. The host was MEP Alessandra Moretti from the Parliament’s S&D Group. The agenda included presentations by experts on the topic of female, hidden housing shortages, including Dalma Fabian, Policy Officer at FEANTSA, Tii Juden, Expert by Experience at No Fixed Abode, Finland, Boroka Feher, Policy Officer at BMSZKI, Hungary and others.
SkF Berlin and its Housing First for Women (HFF) project are strongly committed to ensuring that a women-specific Housing First project is set up in every EU country.
“It is time for the specific needs of women and mothers with children in homelessness services to be recognized and put at the center of the political agenda. In our work at HFF, we see the great need for help from women and their children on a daily basis. Only through targeted measures and individually tailored offers of help, such as
Housing First, we can put a permanent end to their housing shortage,” emphasized Esther Maria Köb-Koutsamanis from HFF.
With the workshop in Brussels, SkF Berlin has taken an important step in bringing the discussion of the housing shortage specific to women to the next political level beyond national borders.
In the future, the association will continue to actively work on a network for the exchange of best-practice examples for the implementation of Housing First programs for women and mothers with children in the European Union.
“Housing First is an effective and sustainable concept, especially for women and mothers with children, as SkF Berlin has proven with the HFF project over the past six years. It is precisely these people, who have supposedly already failed in the help system, who are reached and supported by HFF. In view of the federal government’s goal of ending homelessness by 2030, it is essential to provide targeted support for the target groups in addition to creating more affordable housing. Women and mothers with children must no longer fall through the cracks – in any EU country! That is why SkF Berlin is working at all levels to ensure that this vulnerable group in particular can be given a permanent and reliable safe home,” says Dr. Dagmar Löttgen, Chairwoman of the Board of SkF Berlin.
“Since 2018, we have gained valuable knowledge and expertise with Housing First for Women, focusing on the needs of women to provide them with the support they need. I am very proud that our project has been invited to Brussels and that we, as experts, can pass on our knowledge and initiate change,” explains Sarah Kesselberg, Head of Open Social Work at SkF Berlin.
About HFF:
Since the end of 2018, Housing First for Women has taken a new approach to homeless women with multiple problems. In August 2023, Housing First for Women was awarded the Louise Schroeder Medal.
The aim of the project is to end the women’s homelessness by renting an apartment with their own tenancy agreement and thus regain a dignified, self-determined life. Since 2018, the project has already found 115 apartments for homeless women, 14 of which went to women with children.
The living situation of women has improved in many ways, especially in the areas of health, satisfaction and social life. Housing stability is very high. In addition, the provision of an apartment of their own provides a shelter from violence, to which homeless women are particularly exposed.
About the SkF e.V. Berlin
Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen e.V. Berlin (SkF Berlin) is a women’s association dedicated to supporting children, young people, women and families in emergency situations and in special circumstances. SkF Berlin also promotes the equal participation of people with disabilities in society. This important social work is carried out by a dedicated team of more than 400 volunteers and full-time employees who want to strengthen Christian values in the coexistence of people in Berlin. This makes SkF Berlin an indispensable part of the church’s social work.
The SkF Berlin is responsible for projects and facilities such as Eva’s Shelter, Eva’s Stop, the Shower Mobile for Women and the Delphin Workshops.
The history of the SkF Berlin goes back over a hundred years. In 1901, the Joseph Sisters began their social work in Berlin and founded the welfare association for women, girls and children. In 1924, the Berlin association joined the Catholic Welfare Association for Girls, Women and Children, which was founded by Reichstag deputy Agnes Neuhaus and was active throughout Germany. Neuhaus, one of the first women in the Reichstag, played a key role in the development of social legislation in the Weimar Republic, particularly the Youth Welfare Act. Her work laid the foundation for the modern Sozialdienst katholischer Frauen e.V., which continues to operate according to the principle of “helping people to help themselves” and is committed to the integration and inclusion of the people it supports.
The SkF Berlin sees itself as an independent, critical, constructive and indispensable women’s professional association within the Caritas Association of the Archdiocese of Berlin. It assumes socio-political responsibility and gives a voice to those who often go unheard.
[1] EPOCH Practice is the new program designed to embody mutual learning and capacity building within the European Union. https://www.feantsa.org/en/epoch-practice/about-epoch-practice
