Soup for Simon at The Skeff runs from September 26 to October 2nd and we are delighted to be part of a very worthy Galway cause.
Call in this week for a bowl of soup, a chat with friends and make a difference to homelessness in Galway. €1 from every bowl of soup sold at The Skeff this week will be donated to Galway Simon Community.
By supporting Galway Simon Community, you are helping some of the most vulnerable individuals and families in our community. Everything raised from Soup for Simon will stay locally and will be used to support people in the community.
Deirdre Treacy Fundraising Manager of Galway Simon Community says: “The great thing about ‘Soup for Simon’ is that it’s really easy to participate from the business’s point of view yet it has the potential to make a powerful impact”
Galway Simon Community has been providing services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness since 1979. They offer services to people in the areas of homelessness prevention, housing and health & wellbeing.
PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS IN GALWAY
Galway Simon’s work is focused on preventing people from becoming homeless by keeping people in their own homes where possible. When it is not possible for this to happen, their services work with people to resettle them to a new home through mainstream housing such as private rented accommodation, local authority housing or through an Approved Housing Bodies (AHB ). If someone needs extra support to move out of homelessness, they offer a place in their supported housing services.
In 2015, Simon worked with 366 people and in the first 6 months of this year, they worked with 407 households, which was a 90% increase on the same period last year. The demand for their services is now higher than ever before. In 2014, they worked with 4 families however in the first 6 months of this year alone, Galway Simon Community has worked with 40 families.
BECOMING HOMELESS CAN HAPPEN TO ANY OF US
Being homeless is about more than being without a roof over your head; it’s about a lack of security, lack of belonging, lack of privacy and lack of safety. The majority of those who are homeless are not visible as they may be in staying B&B’s, hostels, squats, in their car or more commonly, they can be on couches or floors at a friend or family’s house.
The demographics of homelessness have changed in Galway and around the country in recent times. For a long time, there was a stereotype about homeless people, that they were older in age and either had a drink or drug problem. Today, this is not the case. Galway Simon Community work with people of all ages and backgrounds.
CONOR’S STORY
The following are quotes from a client of Galway Simon Community ‘Conor’ (name changed ) who is living in one of their residential houses.
“I came to live here soon after I came out of hospital. I was homeless and I had been for years. When I was told there was a room at Simon for me I was glad to be moving forward but I was nervous too about how I’d get on”.
“I feel optimistic about my future and I have some goals for myself – to stay clean, to get a job and to have a place of my own, a home”.
“I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t been able to stay in this Galway Simon house”.
CUT THE RED TAPE
This year’s Simon Week campaign is ‘Cut the Red Tape’. The campaign takes place from the 26th September to 2nd October where the eight Simon Communities across Ireland will join together to launch a National Campaign which aims to ensure that the government lives up to its commitment to end Ireland’s housing and homeless crisis and that bureaucracy doesn’t stand in the way. Right now 7,000 men, women and children across Ireland go to sleep at night with nowhere to call home.
Find out more about the campaign Cut the Red Tape campaign here.
Download the Galway Simon Community flyer here:
http://www.theskeff.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-Info-Flyer.pdf
