Homeless mum’s hotel nightmare

A WORKING mum from Ballymun has highlighted how easy it is for ordinary Northsiders to fall between the cracks in Dublin’s housing system and end up homeless.

Jennifer McEvoy, who lived in Ballymun all her life, found herself homeless with her nine-year-old daughter seven months ago due to personal circumstances. She began sleeping on friends’ sofas while she looked for new accommodation. But despite working part-time, she soon realised she simply couldn’t afford the average rent of a basic apartment in Ballymun.

Jenifer reluctantly presented as homeless to Dublin City Council’s placement service on Conyngham Road seven months ago. She was placed in emergency accommodation at a city centre hostel used by rough sleepers, many of whom suffered from alcohol and addiction problems.

“We were put in for two nights at the start while they looked for hotel accommodation for us,

? Jennifer recalled.

“It was disgusting. We didn’t sleep at all. We were really scared.

?
The young mother and her daughter were placed in an inner-city hotel, where they’ve lived ever since.

“It’s awful, absolutely awful,

? she said.

“I leave there at about 7.30am every morning because I’ve got to get my daughter to school. I try and go back as late as I can because it’s a tiny, horrible little square room, with just a double bed and some old furniture. I’m lucky enough to have my own bathroom but many people in my situation don’t even have that.

“I’m right beside a sex shop with big blue lights and my daughter keeps asking me what it is. The street I’m on is probably the worst street to be taking your child at night. The hotel sells cheap alcohol so there’s all kinds of people here drinking and I have to walk past them to get to my room when I’m bringing my girl back. It’s absolutely disgusting.

?

Being homeless is not only demoralising for Jennifer, it’s also turning out to be a more expensive way of existing. There are no cooking facilities in her hotel room and all she has is a kettle she was supplied with and a small fridge she bought herself to store milk and butter.

‘I’m spending about

?¬30 a day if not more on food, as we would need plenty of bottled water to drink,

? she added.

“Eating healthy is not really possible.

?

Despite her dire circumstances, Jennifer has managed to hold onto the job she’s worked at for the past 10 years. However, the strain is taking its toll and she’s been off sick recently.

She acknowledges she’s the new face of homelessness in Dublin; a working mother who simply cannot afford the city’s spiralling rents, which increased by 10 per cent this year alone.

“I was forced into this situation,

? she said.

“I found myself in this hole and I cannot get myself out of it.

“There’s no real help because I work. I’m not entitled to rent allowance. If I had given up my job I might have been able to get rent allowance but I’ve been working there for 10 years and I don’t want to give it up.

“I ended up homeless because I refused to give up work to get rent allowance. The system is just disgusting. They’re forcing people into poverty.

?

As distressing as Jennifer’s situation is, it’s not unique. Ballymun counciilor, Noeleen Reilly (SF), who met Jennifer recently, said there were over 1,700 people living in emergency accommodation, with many existing without basic home cooked meals.

“One of the side effects of living in emergency accommodation is that families are forced to eat out every single day, putting a huge strain on already meagre budgets,

? she stated.

“The cost of having to eat out consistently is putting a huge strain on families who simply cannot afford it.

“They are in hotels and hostels in the first place because their own resources do not cover the increased rent that this city has experienced over the last few years. How does anyone think they are in a position to be able to eat out all the time?

“Next year has to be the year when serious funding is put into housing construction and also void units are returned back to the housing stock. Living in a hotel is no life for anyone.

?