Thought for the Week: The housing challenge

Jenny Brierley, from the Quaker Housing Trust, considers housing and homelessness

by Jenny Brierley 18th November 2011

It all started, for me, with Cathy. Her homelessness in the 1966 BBC television play ‘Cathy Come Home’ fired people of all faiths, and none, into action. Inspirational work, by amazing individuals and organisations, including Quakers, changed lives and put housing back on the political agenda. Convinced that there is ‘that of God’ in all people, and accepting the implications of this belief spelled out in Matthew 25, the imperative to act seemed so simple and straightforward to me then. New legislation, extra safety nets, commitment and generosity by people across all communities, would make homelessness history, surely?