20% of people in homeless shelters have jobs

ONE in five people living in homeless hostels are working but are being forced to use the shelters to sleep in because they cannot afford to pay rent.

The startling discovery was made when a review of homeless people’s medical cards was undertaken by the HSE’s social inclusion division. It concluded that 20% of people in homeless accommodation did not qualify for a medical card because they were working.

More than 2,300 adults access homeless services in Dublin at any one time, with at least 600 people in emergency hostel-style accommodation, according to 2008 figures.

Social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said it was difficult to see how anyone living in such accommodation could hold down a job as the hostel system was unsafe and so chaotic he felt it would drive people to drugs.

“Obviously the data is there to back this up, but hostel life is so chaotic that I would think any work engaged in would have to be part-time or temporary.”

Fr McVerry, who has worked with homeless people for over 20 years, said Dublin’s emergency hostels, which were the first port of call for people presenting as homeless, were “awful places” and full of drugs.

He said people were forced into them, often when they don’t want to, but go because they will not get their welfare payments unless they take an allocated place in a hostel.

“The biggest issue for me at the moment is these dormitory-style accommodations which people must sleep in.

“I have men who were abused as boys coming to me saying they break out in a sweat at the thought of sharing a room with other men. Often they wake up and the person sleeping beside them is gone as is their money and sneakers. These places drive people into drugs and I would suspect many people are squatting or sleeping rough because they don’t want to go into them.”

Fr McVerry called on voluntary agencies providing emergency accommodation to refuse to house people in dormitory beds.

“People should have their own room. It doesn’t have to be big, just a cubicle where they can lock the door. They just want to feel safe.”

Another serious issue facing homeless services is the big increase in the number of women presenting as homeless over the past year.

Under the reconfiguration of homeless services — Pathway to Home — there is very little scope to accommodate women on their own and a hostel which successfully housed women and families was closed down last year.

At a meeting in October, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, formerly the Homeless Agency, said it believed cuts to homeless services are disproportionate, with further cuts expected this year.