News | Posted 8 June 2023
How homelessness affects the LGBTQIA+ community
Our experience over the last 10+ years has taught us that people can find themselves living with homelessness or food poverty for lots of different reasons. Sometimes, this reason can be simply because of who we are. Those of us who identify as LGBTQIA+ are more likely to experience pressures and discrimination that put us at risk of finding ourselves in a situation of homelessness.
Research from the Centre for Homelessness Impact found that “24% of young people experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQIA+”, whilst LGBTQIA+ homelessness charity akt found that “77% cite family rejection and abuse after coming out as the primary reason for their homelessness”. It is impossible to ignore the fact that homelessness disproportionately effects people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
So what does this mean for Social Bite? Our professional support workers and Social Impact team use a trauma-informed, person-centred approach with every person that we work with a support who are living in a situation of homelessness. We know that there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution, and we work with individuals to address the specific barriers and issues that may be affecting them. Our goal is to empower people and help them to find the tools and skills that they need to break the cycle of homelessness.
However, we recognise that there is lots more that we could be doing to be informed and active within this space. As such we are reaching out to charity partners and organisations who work specifically with people who identify as LGBTQIA+ to find out what more we can do and to learn from their expertise.
Along with enjoying all the vibrant, joyous fun that Pride month brings – we want to recognise and reflect on what Pride means to Social Bite as an organisation and to the mission to end homelessness.
Here at Social Bite, we strive to ensure that we are inclusive as an employer and in the workspaces we provide. It’s important to us that everyone in our team can feel valid, safe, and valued when they come to work every day. As well as this, we are continually looking for opportunities to learn about how to make our services as accessible and inclusive as possible.
We try to embody inclusivity all the way through our organisation: one of our core values is “In it together: We are committed to equality and social justice”.
If you’d like to get in touch, please do reach out to us at info@social-bite.co.uk