Housing Rights is one of six organisations who have each received £25,000 from the Community Foundation’s Community Solutions to Housing and Homelessness programme.
The money will fund a new housing and domestic abuse and immersive learning programme.
This will enable us to work with a group of women who have experienced domestic abuse and homelessness to create an immersive experience, and a specialist training course to raise empathy and awareness among frontline workers.
The grant funding was delivered at an event in the Braid Theatre in Ballymena on 20 July.
Speaking after receiving funding Kate McCauley, CEO of Housing Rights said:
The programme brought forward, which we are delighted to see funded, will build and develop an immersive experience about what it is like to experience domestic abuse and homelessness.
Alongside this, specialist training modules will be available to build awareness and empathy among frontline staff who work in the housing and homelessness arena in order to understand better the challenges and experiences of those women who have experienced domestic abuse.
The Community Solutions to Housing and Homelessness programme supports new ideas and collaborations addressing the root causes of housing issues and homelessness and helps give a voice to people with lived experience.
Speaking following the event Gemma McCaughley from the Community Foundation said:
The Community Solutions to Housing and Homelessness programme saw eight groups, who successfully submitted innovative ideas on how to address the pressing issues we face in this sector, seek funding to support their programmes.
An essential element to this programme is that those at the coal face, with direct experience of the myriad of issues facing our housing sector are centrally involved and have a key part to play in deciding what projects, in their view, can receive support.
In essence what we will see is those who have direct knowledge and insight into the issues of housing and homelessness have a direct say in how they think these issues can be addressed.
The Community Foundation are delighted to be supported in this programme by the Oak Foundation.