In the annual report, the NGO highlighted that housing remains the most significant issue contributing to social exclusion. To add to the challenge, it is also the most difficult issue to resolve in Luxembourg.
Red Cross Luxembourg believes that having access to appropriate housing is imperative, whether that is for young single mothers, unemployed people or those with long-term illnesses, or indeed the homeless. This belief has been at the heart of the NGO's new coordinated housing strategy. The Red Cross is active in providing different services to targeted groups in the domain of housing.
The director general of the Red Cross, Michel Simonis, highlighted that thousands of people made use of the NGO's structures, whether for a night or throughout the year. He pointed out that the "constant increase of the cost of housing is having consequences on vulnerable people." These consequences affect people of all ages and can have different forms: different people can struggle with making ends meet on modest salaries, have difficulties keeping their homes if they lose their jobs or are suffering from long-term illnesses, or find it impossible to rent a home as a refugee.
The director of Red Cross Luxembourg's solidarity activities, Gilles Dhamen, explained that the organisation has decided to strengthen its activities in the housing domain as a result of these difficulties and different propositions made by employees. The Red Cross has set up a dedicated unit which will work with public and private actors involved in the sector, all with the goal of facilitating the development of projects concerning those are vulnerable in society.
One example would be to contribute towards creating innovative and collaborative solutions to the lack of housing, as well as help in providing insight on how to answer difficult questions, such as calculating affordable rent schemes, the practicalities of gaining public subsidies, and finding socially diverse tenants. Dhamen highlighted that the Red Cross could use its experience to provide answers to these questions and help those willing to provide solutions and collaborate with the NGO.
Simonis stressed that Red Cross Luxembourg is able to be involved in so many different activities purely thanks to volunteers, donors, and the support and collaboration of the authorities and other actors. He cited the organisation's statistics as proof that it is growing: compared to 2017, the Red Cross's workforce has grown by 7% to 2,400.
