There are fears that changes to a 21-bed night shelter service has put the homeless community in Belfast at risk.
A member of staff working with the Salvation Army has said the changes to the night shelter service in Belfast City Centre has had a huge impact on some of the most vulnerable who are sleeping on the streets and believes that the service needs to return urgently.
They told Belfast Live that if the former night shelter service was still in place, then some of the recent deaths among the homeless community may not have taken place, as they would have been sleeping somewhere safe.
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The member of staff, who did not wish to be named, said that the night shelter stopped its services at the beginning of the year, with staff being told initially that it would only be temporary due to the impact of Covid.
It has since been merged with the main Centenary House hostel, with the Housing Executive saying this was in order to provide 24 hour coverage to the homeless in Belfast rather than just a night shelter.
However, the member of staff believes that since the hostel has been merged it is not providing the same level of service to the homeless community that the night shelter had been, as places are organised through the Housing Executive rather than individuals signing up for a bed each day.
The member of staff said: "At the beginning of the year we were told that our 21 bed night shelter would be stopped on a temporary basis due to staffing pressures that arose from Covid.
"But there does not seem to be any plans to reopen the shelter at all at the moment and the facility has been merged into the main hostel.
"This shelter has been running for years and has been able to provide 21 people a night with a safe place for them to stay with there also being some room for a few others to have somewhere too on respite facilities.
"The new service means that some people are not able to access the service in the way they once were and are having to spend nights sleeping on the streets where if something happens to them they will likely not get the help that they need in time.
"The night shelter was primarily for those who the Housing Executive had no duty of care over or recently homeless, and now if someone calls for the service they can be directed to another city or town and if they refuse they will lose a safe place to sleep.
"There have been people who have used our facilities in the past who have been found dead this year in the city centre and if they had been using our shelter then this could have been stopped because we have staff who are trained and experienced to handle emergencies.
"I don't know why the service has been changed but I think that it is something that is urgently needed in order to help those who are being put at risk."
The Salvation Army has said that it took the decision to close the night shelter in order to stop the spread of Covid among the homeless community, believing it was putting them at more risk using the night shelter.
It has said that a new service has been established that is led by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
A Salvation Army spokesperson said: "We are deeply saddened by the recent deaths. People forced to sleep rough are some of the most vulnerable in society and it’s essential this group have the support they need to keep them safe.
“The outbreak of covid hit homeless people especially hard and we had to rethink our approach to keeping them safe. We realised the night shelter model at Centenary House was actually putting rough sleepers at risk of contracting covid and so an alternative model was developed in partnership with the Housing Executive.
“Since March 2020, people who are homeless or sleeping rough have been able to call the out-of-hours-team at the Housing Executive who will be able to refer someone to a place to stay. This is a safer option than a night shelter and means we can provide ongoing support to people and tackle the reasons why they ended up homeless in the first place.
"This new model ensures we have more chance of keeping in touch with those who find themselves homeless so we can work with them to move on from being forced to sleep rough.”
However, the staff member has disputed this statement saying that during the Covid pandemic and lockdown no one contracted the virus in the night shelter which was operational at the time and it only closed once restrictions had been lifted.
A Housing Executive spokesperson said; “At the onset of Covid-19, we used an Everyone In approach to homelessness provision in Belfast, which was successful in stemming Covid-19 transmissions among the most vulnerable in our society.
“As part of this approach, we re-configured night-time only services in Belfast to allow for 24 hour provision.
“This shielded the most vulnerable homeless presenters from Covid-19, as it ensured social distancing and it allowed staffing levels to be maintained across services to ensure a high level of support.
“Beds that would normally be used to deal with unpredictable homeless presentations were also used to allow people experiencing homelessness to self-isolate.
“We continue to evaluate the situation on a regular basis and work closely with our partners in the homeless sector to keep our most vulnerable customers safe.”
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