Dublin Simon Community supported over 1,300 households from being in Emergency Accomodation

The leading homeless charity said that without this intervention, an additional 1,637 adults and 1,477 children (1,373 households) would be forced to resort to emergency accommodation.

Today (25 September) at their Annual Report in the Mansion House, Dublin Simon Community outlined their impact on the crisis. In 2017 they delivered housing, health and support services to 6,285 people in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath; a 22% increase in overall service delivery on the previous year. Particular areas of impact include:

• Resettled 1,006 adults and 1,028 children (797 households) out of homelessness and into homes in 2017; a 35% increase on the previous year.
• Our Prevention and Tenancy Sustainment teams worked with 631 adults and 449 children (576 households) to prevent them from loosing their home; a 28% increase on the previous year.
• Provided treatment services to 694 people; a 24% increase on the previous year.

Speaking at the event, Sam McGuinness, CEO of the Dublin Simon Community, said that the organisation has been vigorously working to move people out of homelessness, while also preventing more individuals and families from becoming homeless in the first place.

“In 2017 and into this year, we have continued to work at an accelerated pace. Our homelessness prevention, sustainment and resettlement teams worked tirelessly to keep more people in homes. Without this work, 1,637 adults and 1,477 children (1,373 households/3,114 people) would be otherwise reliant on emergency accommodation.”

Mr. McGuinness continued to emphasise the need for additional housing to continue this work and to significantly reduce the number of people who are stuck in emergency accommodation. He also said that housing alone is not the only answer.

“As this crisis advances, there continues to be a surge in people who desperately need help with housing. In 2017 we also focused on the provision of housing to turn into homes and move people off the streets and out of unstable temporary accommodation. In order for this work to continue, additional housing must be delivered at a more accelerated rate. We are encouraged by the ongoing cooperation and interagency working amongst Approved Housing Bodies, Local Authorities, Government Departments and other service providers, which we believe is essential to meet this challenge head on.”

Mr. McGuinness continued to say:

“In addition to providing housing and support we have, over the past 21 months, continued to take an innovative approach to helping people rebuild their lives, providing lifesaving medical treatment, recovery, counselling and support services. This month, we opened our Step Up Step Down facility providing 12 additional beds, giving short term semi-acute healthcare interventions, treatment, investigations and observations for people who are homeless and/or recently homeless.”

“This facility is part of our plan for a homeless specific Medical Residential Treatment and Recovery Facility at Ushers Island, Dublin 8, which will expand to 100 bed capacity.”

KEY DEVELOPMENTS FROM DUBLIN SIMON COMMUNITY’S ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 2017:

Dublin Simon Community increased their service provision by 22% in 2017 and provided services to over 6,285 people and families across Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. In 2018 they expanded their service into Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.

Housing and resettlement

• 1,373 Households were prevented or moved on from homelessness through our sustainment and resettlement services: a 44% increase since 2016.
• 612 Adults and Children were housed in our own units for singles and families: an 89% increase since 2016.
• 111% increase in the number of Dublin Simon Community housing units in the period.
• 205 people lived in our permanent supported housing receiving assistance with life skills, health and welfare, education and training: 17% increase since 2016.

Addiction Treatment, Recovery and Counselling

• 684 people were provided with Treatment services: a 24% increase on the previous year.
• 2,250 Hours of 1:1 counselling and mental health support were received by clients accessing Sure Steps Counselling: a 5% increase since 2016.
• 665 GP consultations took place at the Mobile Health Unit, in partnership with Safetynet Primary Care.

Emergency Accommodation and Outreach Services

• 37% increase in bed capacity by providing additional 42 emergency beds
• 1,533 People were provided with housing assistance, harm reduction and medical services by our Rough Sleeper Team.
• Soup run contacts averaged over 600 per month.

Participation and Development

• 482 People expanded and developed their skills and education, with 60 people coming through our employability initiatives: 84% increase since 2016.

Nourishment

• 354,490 Meals were provided across our residential services with our kitchens providing nourishing food to improve wellbeing: 42% increase since 2016
• 6,192 Food Parcels including Cereal, Tinned and Dried Food and Fruit and Veg were distributed by our Rough Sleeper Team, SLI and Food for Simon team

You can see our full Annual Report here.