A practical way to help the homeless

LIKE most things in this country, it seems to take a tragedy to concentrate minds and get things done.

The sad and lonely death of Jonathan Corrie in the shadow of Dáil Eireann last week may well mark a turning point, not only in terms of the Government’s response to the homelessness crisis, but in our attitudes to it. We should not read too much into the significance of where he died – this could have happened anywhere in the city.

I wrote about this same issue in my column a little over two months ago, recalling how a colleague of mine was almost reduced to tears during a night out on the town. She was shocked by the age profile of Ireland’s 21st century homeless community. These were not your stereotypical down and out winos – any one of them could have been her teenage son.

While I fully accept that there are a multitude of complex reasons why people end up on the streets at night, it remains a damning indictment of the Government’s failure to effectively tackle the homelessness issue.

There are different degrees of homelessness over and above the 160 or so unfortunate individuals sleeping in doorways. Some are in emergency hostels; others live in their cars; the very lucky ones are given temporary shelter on the sofas of family or friends.

Long-term solutions to the housing crisis were announced last month by the Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly. But this is an ambitious plan that will take six years to bear fruit and does nothing to help people like Jonathan Corrie.

The immediate priority has to be taking people off the streets and into safe, temporary accommodation until a more permanent solution can be found.

It was difficult not to feel a sense of hopelessness in the wake of last week’s tragedy. But there are small, practical ways in which we can help. Here’s just one:

Inner City Helping Homeless are collecting Christmas shoeboxes to provide some respite for those living on the streets. You can put in anything you like but it would be a great help if you could include items like socks, hats, gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste, sweets, chocolate, shampoo, shower gel, cereal bars, baby wipes, roll on deodorants etc.

You can bring your packed shoeboxes to the Inner City Helping Homeless offices at 37 Killarney Street, Dublin 1, after 7pm, Monday to Friday. Visit their website on www.innercityhelpinghomeless.ie or like their Facebook page for further details.