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No one is living rough on the streets of Belfast for the first time in at least 10 years, a Belfast City Councillor has said.

Paul McCusker has praised everyone who made it possible but said it just “proves it can be done”.

Now those without a home have somewhere safe to be during the Coronavirus pandemic, which has already claimed 22 victims in Northern Ireland.

Mr McCusker told Belfast Live: “Given Covid-19 and the concerns around homeless people being unable to isolate, we said from the outset every effort should be made to ensure people who are homeless are not put in any danger.

“Homeless people may experience a number of underlying health conditions as some have addiction issues which makes them high risk in terms of their immune system - they can pick up infections.”

He said additional funding for emergency accommodation and the combined efforts of the Welcome Organisation, Housing Executive, charities and volunteers to identify all those sleeping rough, made the breakthrough possible.

“They have been working really hard to identify people on the streets and to get them indoors and it has worked really well,” he added.

“It’s certainly the first time in my experience, doing homeless work for 10 years, that we have seen everybody off the streets.

“We are talking 30 or 40 people who have been taken away from danger and put in self isolation.”

Jo Daykin-Goodall, director of operations at the Welcome Organisation, said they are now working to make sure everyone they have helped place in single-lets or bed and breakfast-type rooms, remains well.

She said: “Those with cooking facilities are receiving food parcels twice or three times a week.

“Those in rooms with no cooking facilities are receiving basic food packages like tea, coffee, biscuits and cereal but they are getting two hot meals a day to their door.

“We are providing toiletries, clothes and every one of them is getting a telephone call two times a day.”

But Jo said the most vulnerable are being contacted three times a day, while gas and electricity is also provided.

They are also taking those with symptoms of the virus to hospital in a specially adapted van, if necessary.

“We have been working very closely with the Housing Executive and our primary aim has been to get all the rough sleepers off the streets and into safe accommodation,” she added.

And their efforts also apply to ‘new’ rough sleepers whose accommodation or relationships may have broken down.

They are being assessed in the drop-in “and there’s a rapid response from us to the Housing Executive to identify accommodation and get them in before the day ends”.

“Our staff are working around the clock, every hostel and crèche facility in Belfast is now full and those workers are stepping up to the plate and looking after the people in those hostels.

As a result of all this, Jo said: “There has been nobody sleeping on the streets of Belfast for a number of days.

“No homeless person in Belfast has fallen through the gap. We are in contact with everyone and we also have connection to the PHA if there is medical attention needed.

“It has been a lot of hard work (and) we are delighted with what we have achieved,” she added.

“I want to thank everybody who has donated food, clothes or helped us to provide this level of service.”

A Housing Executive spokesperson said: “We have significantly increased the number of bed spaces available in temporary accommodation and are continuing to explore a number of potential alternatives.

“We have been continually working alongside homeless charities and organisations to support anyone who finds themselves homeless in the current pandemic and, particularly, to assist people sleeping on the streets."

“The Housing Executive’s response has involved working with over 30 rough sleepers and through all the hard work of everyone involved, no-one was sleeping rough over the weekend,” they added.

“Rough sleepers often display vulnerabilities that go beyond the absence of accommodation and we will work with colleagues across the statutory and voluntary sectors to ensure accommodation provision is supported by actions to address any additional vulnerabilities and complexities.

“Such support is vital in ensuring that placements in temporary accommodation are sustainable.”

“There’s a lot to learn from this,” added the SDLP’s Paul McCusker.

“If we can do this now, we need to look at how we deliver homeless service strategically and in particular our response to rough sleepers.

“There are concerns that once Covid-19 is resolved that these people might return to the streets and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Jo, like Paul, said “there is work at some point in the future” as this “shows it can be done”.