13 seems to be a key number for Vincentians fighting homelessness around the world, despite all the prejudices surrounding it. Almost a year ago, we launched the “13 Houses” Campaign with the aim of changing the lives of 10.000 homeless people in 3 to 5 years.
Our partner the Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH), based at DePaul University in Chicago, launched the A Place to Call Home initiative in 2017 with key global strategic partners to begin pioneering work in 13 vanguard cities across 6 continents: Adelaide and Sydney (Australia), Chicago and Little Rock (USA), Toronto (Canada), Montevideo (Uruguay); Santiago de Chile, Greater Manchester and Glasgow (UK), Brussels (Belgium), Rijeka (Croatia), Bengaluru (India) and Tshwane (South Africa).
Each city has made a commitment to significantly reduce or end street homelessness in reflection of their local context. IGH works directly with the vanguard cities on their strategy, measurement, and implementation—and in doing so, helps them make quantitative and qualitative steps toward their reduction goals. Through its global network of homeless experts, IGH provides targeted technical assistance to address the challenges of ending street homelessness in each city.
This work will show what is possible, clearing the path for 25 more cities working to end street homelessness by 2025, then a final 120 cities to end street homelessness by 2030. This deadline aligns with existing global targets, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A Place to Call Home initiative is designed to support and uplift local expertise and innovation while reaping the benefits of both community and global exchange. In A Place to Call Home, IGH leverages the foundation of its work — supporting leadership, exchanging knowledge, creating a global infrastructure, and advocating for change — to make a meaningful impact on street homelessness in cities across the globe.
We Vincentians will keep looking for new ways to work with the poorest of the poor all over the world, with the common objectives of eradicating homelessness. We will keep you up to date with all the developments from both campaigns.