Churches are struggling to cope with the rise in demand for homeless and housing services. Housing Justice says that churches in its network have reported an increase in the number of people turning to them for help with housing. New church shelter schemes that opened up this winter in Milton Keynes and Birmingham were filled to capacity. Newly published Government statistics show that rough sleeping has risen in England by 23% in the last year. Figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government state that 2,181 people are sleeping rough on any one night, up from a total of 1,768 in last year's count. The figure is based on street counts carried out by 53 local authorities between October and November of last year, and estimates made in partnership with local homelessness agencies. Housing Justice director Alison Gelder said: ‘This increase is sadly part of a familiar picture of chronic and growing housing need in society.'
Pray: for God to enable the Church to meet this challenge and for the Government to ensure the most vulnerable are adequately supported. (Ps.140:12)