New housing and homelessness programme seeks the voice of those with lived experience

13 Sep 2021

The Community Foundation Northern Ireland is offering individuals the opportunity to have their say on the development of a new programme that will address the root causes of homelessness and housing issues in Northern Ireland.

The three-year programme funded by the Oak Foundation will provide opportunities for organisations to collaborate around specific challenges within housing and homelessness and develop new solutions that can be put forward for grant-making.

A public engagement process has been launched to capture the voices of those with lived experience, so that those affected by the issue can inform the challenges to be prioritised by the programme. An online survey is available on the Foundation’s website for people to share their views on what the key unsolved challenges within housing and homelessness are. Interested participants can also express an interest in attending a workshop where there will be an opportunity to discuss the issues identified in more detail.

Paul Braithwaite, Head of Innovation and Voice at the Community Foundation said:

‘We would really encourage people with lived experience to participate in this consultation. At the Foundation, we believe that innovation begins with the insights and involvement of people affected by the issue. Through listening to the voices of those impacted, we will identify a series of priority challenges and themes related to housing and homelessness.

Following the public engagement process, organisations will then be invited to develop a project idea in response. This will involve exploring collaboration with other local organisations and participation in a  facilitated creative problem solving process. The ideas developed will be eligible for a grant of between £15k and £25k and decisions on funding allocations will be made by individuals with lived experience, through an innovative Participatory Grant-Making process to take place in Spring 2022.”

Complete the online survey here. 

The survey will be available from Monday 13th September – 22nd October 2021.

For more information on the Housing and Homelessness Innovation and Voice programme, visit communityfoundationni.org or contact:

Paul Braithwaite, Head of Innovation and Voice on paul@communityfoundationni.org

Gemma McCaughley, Innovation and Voice programme officer, on gmccaughley@communityfoundationni.org