What is homelessness?

Homelessness means not having a home. You don’t have to be living on the streets to be homeless – even if you have a roof over your head you can still be homeless. This may be because your home is unsuitable or you don’t have any rights to stay where you live.

Who is at risk of becoming homeless?

Homelessness affects a large number of people in the society; they are at risk of becoming homeless because they are less able to cope on their own. These include:

young people
the elderly
people with children
people with physical or mental health problems
people on living on grants or low incomes
people leaving patient care
ex-prisoners
asylum seekers and refugees

How do people become homeless?

You could become homeless for a number of different reasons. These could include:

being evicted by a landlord,
loss of job or income,
health problems,
relationship problems,
harassment from neighbors,
natural or man made disasters such as fire or flooding.

What can you do if you become homeless?

If you do not have a permanent place to live, you will have different resources and benefits available to you depending on your situation. You may be able to get help with emergency housing, permanent housing, food, a job, or getting enrolled in school.

Visit the Ministry of Social Development and the People’s Displacement Unit to seek assistance.
Ask a friend or a relative if you can stay with them until you sort yourself out.