Redefining homelessness – Definitions can limit discussion rather than enhance it

Sir, – Daniel K O’Sullivan (Letters, November 11th) reminds us of how we continue to ignore that which is unacceptable to current thinking when discussing homelessness.

Working in the field of homelessness for years, I have seen politicians, ministers and expert groups come and go, and are we further removed now from understanding the complexities and obvious remedies than we ever were?
It is important to reflect at times on what was possible during that time with objectivity. Many people lived happy lives in bedsits including this writer.

More importantly many people who fitted the definition of homelessness at the time also lived happily in bedsits – cramped conditions by today’s standards. Homeless people we meet today include couples sleeping in fragile tents, with only a cuddle to keep warm as accommodation for couples is limited. Some people are fearful of hostel accommodation, despite of the hard work of staff. Hotel accommodation in some cases is no better than the bedsits we continue to dismiss. However, one clear difference is how much it is costing the taxpayer. The debate on homelessness needs to be much broader than just redefining homelessness. Definitions can limit discussion rather than enhance it. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,
Director of Services,
Alice Leahy Trust,
Dublin 8.

Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/11/14/redefining-homelessness/#:~:text=Homeless%20people%20we%20meet%20today,bedsits%20we%20continue%20to%20dismiss

Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use – A time for fresh thinking

Sir, – The letter from Peter Reynolds (October 3rd) captures how we as a country deal with issues that we all should be concerned about.

Drug use is widespread in our country and our elected public representatives owe it to those concerned about our future, not least our democracy, to look beyond the findings of this assembly comprised of 99 people from a jurisdiction with a population of five million. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,

Director of Services

Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/10/04/citizens-assembly-on-drugs-use

Housing and needs of vulnerable people – Integration must be a two-way system

Sir, – Autumn always brings renewed focus on the housing of vulnerable people, often with serious mental health difficulties. Having worked through the years since the welcome closure of the large institutions and participated in discussions at many levels including print media, radio and TV, and at a political level about the transfer of services to the NGO sector, I remain unconvinced that we understand the meaning of integration into communities which has to be two way. To me integration is the action of successfully joining a different group of people.

Lately there have been reports in the media about how well some new tenants are settling into the housing provided by organisations working in the sector. This is very much to be welcomed but it is also the case that there is a lot of focus on finance, policy and plans, with little or no discussion on the communities which are hosting these new tenants.

Integration needs to be a two-way street with efforts being made by both the new tenants and the host communities.

We rarely hear of the community work contributing to the successful integration of people often living in struggling environments. The work and efforts of these communities should receive some of the accolades that are given to the organisations involved in housing these vulnerable people.

Some houses around the country are wonderful examples of what is possible, while others stand out in their neglect. Help, if even available, remains 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, exactly the same as the totally inadequate support provided by some State services.

People living in supported housing need support. People in communities, often living with at times unrealistic fears, need support and understanding. Funding agencies and those providing the services need to look beyond the bricks and mortar, the finance, the statistics, the box-ticking and try to understand what integration means in action.

Money and medication alone are not enough to ensure a well-balanced integrated community. – Yours, etc,

ALICE LEAHY,

Director of Services,

Alice Leahy Trust,

Dublin 8.

Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2023/09/04/housing-and-needs-of-vulnerable-people/

Irish Times Magazine 28th July 2023 – Helping Homeless people is about more than money, bricks and mortar and ticking boxes

We’re in the basement of the Iveagh Trust hostel, which was set up more than 100 years ago. We’re in a very old building in a very old part of Dublin city. And that brings its challenges, and also its inspiration because you’re conscious that so many people have walked this path before.

When it’s pouring rain, people won’t appear until later in the morning. Because if they’re lucky enough to shelter under a bush or a tent, or maybe they’ve got a seat in a Garda station, then they will stay there until the rain passes.

We are a team here. When we come in in the morning, we make sure we have everything ready for people coming in, make sure the fish [in our fish tank] are happy, Marty is on Lyric, fresh flowers are on the table, and our candles are lighting. Of course with health and safety we have those new candles that you just switch on. But the candle is a sign of hope for people.

Then we open up and people come in. We take them as we find them, don’t pry into people’s affairs. Jeanette and Lisa are in the office in the morning, and are dealing with an awful lot of queries from the public, sometimes from all over Ireland. Last week, we had a number of people contacting us about very basic information on their social welfare entitlements. We also have people contacting us who are fearful that they’re going to be evicted. And they’re trying to plan their future.

https://www.irishtimes.com/video/video/2023/07/28/caring-for-the-homeless-its-better-than-winning-the-lotto/

When people come in we ask them for their name. We’ve had Roy Keanes, we’ve had all kinds of people… and that’s okay. We don’t deal with families, and we don’t deal with children. Because we couldn’t. Our place is so small.

Brendan is at the gate, we have to keep our gate closed now. We didn’t years ago, but then drugs have created a huge problem in our country. And the lives of people have been changed dramatically.

When people come in, Mark will offer them a hot cup of tea or coffee. They can have a wash, a change of clothes, a shower. For somebody who’s sleeping out in all kinds of weathers, particularly in this heat and the rain, they’re walking in sodden shoes. There is a tendency now to forget about the importance of these very basic things. Afterwards we ask them to clean up after themselves, put their towels in a basket, because it’s very important not to treat homeless people as children, and to give them some responsibility.

Talking about homelessness in terms of housing and money, and the Government’s responsibility, we have forgotten completely about the complexity of humanity

— Alice Leahy

Maybe someone will want information, a letter maybe for the DRHE (Dublin Regional Homeless Executive), a GP or a hospital. They might want a form filled in for a medical card, or information on a hospital appointment. They may be going to the courts, and want to just look well.

Dealing with somebody with mental health issues, it can be impossible now to get people on the phone to find help. It’s all now about ticking boxes. Talking about homelessness in terms of housing and money, and the Government’s responsibility, we have forgotten completely about the complexity of humanity.

Often people come to give us things. It might be to give us clothes after someone’s death. The generosity of people is amazing. But it’s very important to give those people time. It’s not unusual that somebody would come in and say there was a suicide in the family and the clothes they’re giving were from someone dear to them who died.

Fifty years ago this year, I decided I would leave nursing and apply to work in the Simon Community. We worked in a condemned building. There were people sleeping under the stairs, pets sleeping in the bedrooms. There was cannabis in odd corners, you’d know by the whiff of it. There were people drinking. The founder of Simon, Anton Wallich-Clifford who once spent the night in my bedsit, had the right vision. Because it was about all of us in there, working together.

Later a group of us set up Trust [now The Alice Leahy Trust]. The people we worked with in the early days were all Irish, they came from the institutions, the prisons, psychiatric hospitals and the Magdalene laundries. During the Troubles, a lot of people came down from the North.

A man stopped recently at the steps and Jeanette was there. He said, “Is Alice still in there?” And she said, “Yes, she is. She’s just left for a meeting.” And he told her: “You know, 40 years ago I was in there. Can I go in and have a look?” And he told her he had come in and I gave him a bath, clean clothes and a second-hand pair of shoes. And that I referred him to a doctor, and he hadn’t had a drink since.

We are now still doing those basic things. Nothing beats face-to-face engagement with people. Time spent with people is seen as wasting time. We met a nurse recently who was leaving the profession because she was being given only allotted times to deal with patients. That culture is now creeping into the NGO sector.

I think about the young hopeful idealistic people who are beginning their work in the area of homelessness. They need to know the importance of the basics, the complexity of the human condition, and that helping homeless people is about more than money, bricks and mortar and ticking boxes.

– In conversation with Catherine Cleary