Homelessness - Break this sad cycle

AS a metric of despair few are as absolute as homelessness figures.

They represent failure on a personal, social and human level.

They represent too some of the saddest, most challenging stories in our societies. Poverty, addiction, or just a run of bad luck can conspire to make someone destitute and force them to live on the streets, pushing them into a cycle that is so hard to break.

In times of high unemployment, economic crisis and reduced service it is to be expected that homelessness figures would rise. Figures published yesterday show an escalation — and much more besides — that cannot go unchallenged. Despite all of our great difficulties there must be more we can do to stop this tragedy gathering momentum and destroying even more lives.