Greg Daly
Irish people frustrated by the escalating homelessness crisis have been urged to give vent to their feelings by offering their time volunteering for charities working in the frontline.
The call comes after Irish bishops discussed the ongoing issue of homelessness during their meeting with Pope Francis in Rome at the weekend and told him about what local parishes and communities are doing to alleviate the crisis.
Kerry Anthony, CEO of Depaul, told The Irish Catholic that while she was glad the Home Sweet Home occupation of Dublin’s Apollo House office block had drawn fresh media attention to the crisis, people who want to help should consider joining charities with proven track records.
Debate
“It’s always welcome to have the debate in the media, but organisations like Depaul are working on this day in, day out, and we need volunteers to come and support our work,” she said, adding that she would be “really keen that if people wanted to get involved that they get involved with established charities.”
Ms Anthony said that the Dublin Homeless Network, which draws together a range of charities across the city, combine their efforts in a coordinated way to share information and avoid replication of roles, adding: “I do think that a coordinated approach is the best way to go, so I would encourage people to come and talk to organisations like ourselves or others and see how they can get practically involved.”
Her comments come at a time when a fresh spike in homelessness is expected, with Focus Ireland’s Mike Allen telling The Irish Catholic that the numbers entering homelessness tend to be artificially suppressed in December only to rise dramatically in January.
Recently compiled figures show that the number of homeless families in Ireland rose from 400 in January 2015 to over 1200 before the end of last year, with the number of homeless people in the country almost doubling over the same period.
Stressing that “it’s not all bad news”, Mr Allen said the speed at which homelessness has been increasing has slowed, with charities making real progress in helping families escape homelessness. “This thing could seriously be getting better if we could just help people from losing their homes,” he said.