More than 200 Galway children will spend this Christmas in emergency homeless accommodation provided by COPE Galway, at the end of a year in which 527 children and 868 adults were supported by Galway Simon.
The startling statistics from both organisations come this week as COPE Galway holds its tenth annual Business Leaders Sleep Out; and as Galway Simon revealed details of the vast numbers of people who have benefitted from its services this year.
Karen Feeney, Head of Client Services at Galway Simon said in an article in this week’s Advertiser that from January to October this year, Galway Simon worked with 746 households, single people and families.
Insecure situations
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"A total of 868 adults, and 527 children. Some of those people had the support of Galway Simon at a time in their lives that was really difficult. Many will never tell anyone that they were in the position where they needed homeless services and equally, there are people for whom Galway Simon Community is a very central part of their lives and being part of the community is really important to them.
“Not everyone who is homeless is visible on the streets, and there are ever increasing numbers of people living in very insecure situations, relying on friends, acquaintances, and extended family. There are people moving from couch to couch, in emergency and transitional housing services, and even in hospitals and care settings, that do not have somewhere to call home. There are countless people in our community whose homelessness is hidden and concealed to the public eye,” she said.
'No comparison'
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Sinead Carey, head of COPE Galway’s Homeless Service, also writes in this newspaper of the many concerns that families have while availing of homeless services over Christmas.
“There is no comparison to living in your own home when staying in confined settings such as B&Bs or hotel rooms. Mums and Dads worry about children missing out on formative experiences like Christmas memories and do their best to shield their children from the anxieties around not having a home of their own,” she said.
