Final event in Ghent: 'Strong key messages to Europe, football with ex-homeless people and street visit with a wrap up of all the ROOF hard work'

With the great European momentum of the new European Platform on ending homelessness, we took the opportunity to discuss with the policy and political levels how together we can help cities end homelessness through Housing First and Housing Led in the decade to come.

The day consisted of different parts:

In the morning, there was the high level European political ROOFTOPEU2022 at the Ghent football stadion, the Ghelamco Arena. The ROOF experiences and needs were illustrated through key messages. We then discussed them with European, national and local politicians, experts and the audience: what do policy levels need from each other and to what can the political levels commit to implement Housing First/Led. Afterwards, the audience was invited to cheer on the Ghent (ex-) homeless football team De Plantrekkers and the ROOF-team during a small ROOFTOPEU2022 match.

In the afternoon, we organized a ROOF walk in a 'New Ghent', a neighbourhood where Housing First is implemented. During the walk the 9 ROOF cities shared their main results from the project.

In the evening, we had a final moment with the network members and a public musical performance in the city center.

The final event was great experience, you can enjoy it with this aftermovie.