Issues in Rural Areas Feedback from the Simon Communities suggests that there can be significant stigma attached to people who are homeless in rural areas than in urban areas. This can be due to the tight knit nature of rural communities where people generally know one another and there is a perception that homelessness doesn’t exist in their area. It was also reported that there can be poor perception of individuals who are ‘well known’ or have a ‘history’. There were two contrasting impacts expressed, on one hand a tight knit community can act as a support (protective factor) however on the other hand, if someone is perceived as being different or as being ‘known’, the stigma can compound isolation. There was also concern that this stigma might mean that those living in inadequate accommodation in remote areas or those experiencing homelessness may not come to attention of homeless services until the person is in extreme crisis or hospitalised. Issues arising for Homeless Service Providers in Rural Areas Funding/Costs In a study in the UK on the delivery of homeless services in rural areas, a common problem among homeless service providers was that funding generally was lower in rural areas than in urban areas31. This study went on to argue that services in rural areas tend to rely more on 13 charitable donations to help fund services which are generally also lower in rural areas. The study also found that cost of running homeless services were higher in rural areas than urban areas. This was mainly due to wider geographical spread and irregular transport services. Service providers who provide outreach services in rural areas frequently incur extra travel cost as a result of this. Use of public transport by service providers is not an option in most areas as it is unreliable, costly and time consuming. A hidden cost can be the extra cost of mobile phone bills as clients have no office to call to so workers need to contact people using mobile phones most of the time. The Simon Communities report that they incur extra costs as a result of the geographical spread associated with rural homelessness. The cost of travel to deliver their services was one of the major costs. Lack of statutory funding can hinder the development of much needed services, with the development of homeless support services established in one Community region being funded solely by donor funds. The aforementioned review32 of the RSS in the Midlands outlines that the states funding of services in Midlands is significantly below that in urban areas at only 1.5% of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government homeless budget. This is regardless of the metric used, i.e. funding per service user or per outcome or per bed. 31 Homeless Link Rural Homeless Project ‘Supporting Homelessness Agencies to deliver services in Rural Areas’ homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/Homeless%20Link%20Rural%20Homeless%20Report.pdf 32 Ibid
Left out in the cold: A review of rural homelessness in Ireland
To see the actual publication please follow the link above