Emmaus: Providing Shelter, Community, and Hope during the Housing Crisis

Emmaus Salford Community Homestore will be offering space to assist those in need this Christmas,.

The heart of the mission is to provide comfortable and well-furnished rooms for as long as needed to anyone who is sofa-surfing or at risk of homelessness this winter.

CEO of Emmaus Salford, Jack Smith, said: “We have had a lot of interest, and this is great in some ways because we can help more people.

“Which is clearly a sign of the on-going, worsening housing crisis.”

Emmaus operates as a compassionate community where companions can give their time to support the charity and the broader community.

The organisation receives help on daily operations and provides a platform for training and development, enabling people to achieve their goals for the future.

Many people have taken this to their advantage with Smith continuing to explain: “We have offered a room today to someone joining us on Monday, and we have one more room available and a few people to see tomorrow.”

As the doors open, Emmaus are offering a friendly atmosphere that encourages resilience and personal development in addition to providing shelter.

There is the worry that people of Salford are not doing anything to help the homeless throughout the Christmas period.

But hopefully this organisation can help influence a change and motivate the people of Salford to get involved in supporting this charity.

And the concern for the homeless has also been felt by many in the community, with Leah Blackmore, 21 : “I feel really bad about it but I don’t think I can really do much to help the homeless for Christmas.

“I’m spending a lot on Ubers because it’s cold and rainy so I don’t really have the money to help.”

With the new government statistics, that there were 7,236 people estimated to be sleeping rough over the month of June 2023 – up 944 people or 15% since March 2023, and up 1,668 people or 30% since the same period last year.

And with the rise in homeless combining with the growing issues of the cost of living crisis, it may be a difficult month for those who have no option but to sleep rough.

Another Salford local Alex Dugdale, 24, went onto say that he would rather offer support to the community this winter: “I would like to do something to help and get involved with this even if it is volunteering rather than giving money.”