Funding announced to help homeless people from ethnic minorities

Housing minister Yvette Cooper today announced funding of
£3 million to help local authorities tackle homelessness
within ethnic minority groups, writes Clare
Jerrom.

The Ethnic Minorities Innovation Fund will provide financial
support to voluntary and community groups to work in partnership
with local authorities to reduce levels of homelessness among this
group.

“We know that enthic minority households are at disproportionate
risk of social exclusion, and in the case of homelessness this is
no exception,” said Cooper.

“We need to do more to tackle this problem,” she added. “The
£3 million fund being announced today will provide money for
new, innovative projects to reduce and prevent homelessness among
ethnic minority communities and to support the delivery of good
practice more widely.”

A guide was also published today to help local authorities
change and develop their services in order to meet the varying
needs of their ethnic minority populations.

Despite the fact that ethnic minorities represent just seven per
cent of the general UK population, they represented 21 per cent of
those accepted by local authorities as homeless.

For more information, go to http://www.odpm.gov.uk/