Cold and hungry, but how much do we care?

The average winter temperature in Ireland is 2.5 degrees Celsius. At night, this drops below freezing. The exact number of people who are currently homeless in Ireland is difficult to establish, but at the moment it is estimated to be over 5,000 people. Every night, over Ireland’s homeless are sleeping rough throughout the country in freezing conditions.

A man is sitting on Dame Street. It’s only about half seven but already it’s pitch black and he is soaked through from the rain that has been falling all day. His name is Noah* and he has been homeless since he was 13 years old. Problems with his family led to him being kicked out on the street.

He reveals that being forced to spend night after night alone, cold and often scared, led to him becoming addicted to drugs. Noah is frank and honest about his situation.

He makes no excuses for his drug addiction or unkempt appearance. He feels ashamed of himself. But he feels there is no escape from his situation. It’s a never-ending cycle.

The Simon Community is Ireland’s most recognised charities combating homelessness on our streets.

The Communities work isn’t just mere charitable collections for the homeless. Its volunteers also actively assist those who may end up on the streets, and assist those who do in finding temporary accommodation.

They also run treatment programmes for drug and alcohol addicitons, provide emergency accomodation, and run a Rough Sleeper Team which operates with the Simon Community’s nightly soup run. It’s the community’s soup runs that demonstrate the sadness and desperation of homelessness. Noah is just one of many homeless people on the streets of Dublin.

The Simon Community soup run provides soup and sandwiches to men and women sleeping rough every night of the year. The soup run however is about much more than some food and company for a few minutes.

For the Simon Community, it is the first point of contact; a way of connecting those sleeping rough with the community in order to provide access to accomodation and health services. Niamh Murphy has been involved with the soup run and Rough Sleeper Team as a volunteer for over six years.

Murphy says on average the soup run team encounters 35-45 people every night who they provide soup and sandwiches for, the majority of which sleep rough all the time. “Others may use hostels…we have some regulars and some people we meet every now and again,” she says. But many people sleeping rough prefer taking their chances on the street rather than staying in a hostel for the night.

One man who prefers to take his chances on the street is Luke*. A neatly dressed, nicely spoken man, it’s not obvious he’s homeless. It’s even less obvious he’s a heroin addict.

“My dad kicked me out of the house when he got out of Brixton Prison when I was about 13… I’ve been on drugs on and off over the years. I have given up for a while, but it never lasts very long.”

He tells me he sleeps rough most nights. When asked why he doesn’t stay in a hostel, he says “I’d rather take my chances [on the street]… sometimes you have more trouble in the hostels.” Physical fights, fear, and the few personal items you possess being stolen are all regular occurrences in hostels.

Although many homeless people do have problems with addictive substances, Murphy and another volunteer, Cormac Whelan, agree that this is not the sole reason for people becoming homeless.

“For most people becoming homeless is due to a mix of factors, often starting with coming from a deprived background, having parents who have their own issues, early drug and alcohol misuse, breakdown of family relationships, spending time in prison…For most people it is not just one issue – often a mix of drug/alcohol dependencies and mental health issues.

For some there may be a big incident in their lives, such as the breakdown of a relationship and this may leave them unable to cope.”

“People with mental health problems are often more difficult to help,” Murphy adds. Whelan reveals “The only downside [about volunteering] is seeing some clients in a very poor condition, both physically and mentally…and knowing the limitations that we have.”

While the Simon Community try to do their best, they are limited in the help they can offer to people. “In general, a case worker will meet with people individually to assess their needs and work with them on a long term basis towards addressing those needs,” Murphy says.

“Initially this could be making sure they see a doctor or nurse if they have medical problems, bringing them up to the Simon Community shop to get dry, clean clothes or helping them with paperwork that will allow them to claim social welfare.”

However, only recently the Simon Community has warned the government of the impact further cuts can have on the work they already do. While trying to link out with homeless people is already challenging, cutbacks to the services the community provides could lead to more people slipping through the cracks.

On that night around the Grafton Street area, the two very different sides of homelessness are evident. On a public bench near St Stephens Green, a man is hunched over, aparently engrossed in his feet.

He is in fact injecting heroin into his toes. Many people could be forgiven for thinking that the majority of those homeless are there due to their addictions. But a man and woman begging on Grafton Street prove this isn’t the case.

The couple, Sarah* and Martin*, were made homeless three weeks ago. They missed a rent payment on their apartment in Ashbourne and despite the fact they offered their landlord a significant amount of money towards the missed payment, he threw them out of their home. With little notice or money to secure a new home, they were forced to transport all their possessions in eight carrier bags on a bus to Dublin.

Too ashamed to tell their family, they say they have had no choice but to sleep rough. “It’s so degrading begging for money, but we have no choice. I’m terrified someone I know is going to see me, but we have no choice… we need any money we can get just to buy food,” Sarah tells me.

The soup run and Rough Sleeper Team is just one intitative the Simon Community runs to reach out to people who are homeless. The stories in this article are just the stories of one night. Hundreds more of untold stories exist.

As the night draws to a close, the volunteers make their way back to the Simon Community Office on Capel Street. Accomodation in hostels is organised for those who are willing to accept it, stories are exchanged about the type of night all the volunteers have.

Most of these volunteers come one night every week to help out. While the Simon Community continuously needs funding, it also needs people willing to donate their time.

If you are interested in volunteering, more information is available at www.simon.ie.

All names marked * have been changed