Homelessness is rarely “only” about housing. For many people, it intersects with mental health needs, fragmented access to care, and repeated barriers that make support hard to reach and even harder to sustain. Person First is a European Erasmus+ initiative coordinated by SMES-Europa together with partner organisations across multiple countries, aiming to improve access to services and better match them to people’s needs, especially in relation to mental health.

Why Person First?

Across Europe, services often operate in parallel: emergency responses, social support, health and mental health care, housing pathways, and participation structures may not “meet” in the same place or time. Person First focuses on practical strategies that help teams move from fragmented responses toward person-centred and integrated pathways.

What the project set out to do

Person First proposes objectives that include:

• Promoting networking and collaboration among professionals and organisations working with homelessness and complex needs.
• Improving accessibility and quality of services, with attention to multiple barriers that people face in real life.
• Strengthening participation, supporting a shift from “doing for” to “doing with” people who use services.

Useful outputs to share with your team

If you work in a shelter, outreach, mental health, social services, or housing programme, consider adding these resources to your internal library:

• Survey on services (2022): mapping and learning across partners.
• Key lessons and recommendations: concrete takeaways for improving access and service fit.