From June 17th to 18th, stakeholders combating homelessness throughout Europe convened in Vienna for the 2024 FEANTSA Forum. Hosted by FEANTSA, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, in collaboration with BAWO, Austria’s national umbrella organisation for NGOs focused on homelessness, this conference was set to be the largest and most impactful to date.

We had the opportunity to visit the Neunerhaus organisation, where we learned about their successful implementation of Housing First in Vienna. Founded in 1999, Neunerhaus employs around 250 staff supported by 50 volunteers, providing housing support, health services, and a peer campus that trains formerly homeless individuals to become peer workers. Their interdisciplinary teams, including social workers, peer workers, and psychosocial support workers, supported 1076 people in 513 households in 2023.

We also visited Neunerimmo, their sister organisation, which bridges the real estate and social sectors by providing social property management and support to tenants in collaboration with Neunerhaus and other organisations.

During the Forum, Arturo Coego, coordinator of the Hub, facilitated a session alongside Dr. Geoffrey Messier on the use of AI to improve homelessness services. Messier emphasised that AI should not replace human connections in homelessness services. Instead, well-functioning data IT systems should precede AI implementation, and AI should be used only for specific problems it can solve effectively.

We attended a session on the importance of alliances between the social and housing sectors, featuring Emine Özkan and Gerli Gutheil-Knopp-Kirchwald, and chaired by Alexander Machatschke, which showcased BAWO’s efforts to integrate social and housing support to combat homelessness.

Additionally, the session on unaccompanied minors experiencing homelessness in Europe, chaired by Simona Barbus with Georgia Spyropoulou and Marjorie Lelubre, provided valuable insights into the situations of unaccompanied minors in Greece and Brussels.

Overall, the 2024 Forum was an excellent opportunity to connect with many of you, network, discuss Housing First, and advocate for it as a solution to combat homelessness and ensure societal inclusion. As Matt Downie stated in the opening plenary, « We need to have a wider perspective that includes society as a whole; it’s your responsibility to work with all those necessary for change, not just those you agree with. »

Read FEANTSA Forum’s press release here.