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DENS
Registered charity no. 1097185 - Company no. 4610820
DENS, Bury Lodge, 1 Queensway, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1
1HT
Tel: 01442 262274 Fax: 01442 240496
E-mail: office@dens.org.uk |
Dacorum doesn’t have a ‘cardboard city’ but there are men and women, young and old, sleeping rough – in cars, on friends’ floors, in derelict buildings or in hostels every night of the year. During October 2007 DENS undertook a homeless count to find out the real number of homeless people in Dacorum. Here’s a flavour of what we discovered:
- 76 people were homeless or in temporary accommodation
- 32% were female and 41% were under 25 years old
- 6% were sleeping rough
- 21% were in temporary accommodation
- 3% in B&B’s, 70% were staying in hostels, 36% of these in DENS Night Shelter
We based our definition of homelessness to include those in hostels and other temporary accommodation. This definition is shared by the European Union but not by the English government who categorise anyone as homeless only if they are sleeping in the open air.
There are many different factors that lead to a person becoming homeless. Relationship breakdown and other factors such as mental illness, alcohol or drug use can happen to anyone at any time as a consequence of a series of circumstances cascading out of control.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, DENS works to improve the lives of homeless people. DENS Night Shelter and Move-On-Accommodation provide emergency and longer term accommodation in safe surroundings for those in need. DENS Day Centre provides food, hot drinks and a place to go during the day to get off the streets. Guests play games, read newspapers, meet others in a similar situation and have access to advice provided by DENS staff, other agencies and volunteers.
Underpinning all of DENS work is the Resettlement Service, which provides one-to-one support to clients. Together with staff and a wide volunteer base, DENS has helped more than 300 homeless people in Dacorum get their lives back on track since April 2003.
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