VIDEO: Homelessness Crisis: Peter McVerry Trust centre provides a place for those without a home
IT’S 10.15am, small glass jugs of milk have been filled, napkins placed on tables, and the oven is full with breakfast rolls wrapped in tinfoil.
Outside a queue is forming. But this is not the latest hipster coffee shop. Instead, it’s one of many homeless services throughout the country which are struggling to assist the ever-increasing number of individuals and families without homes.
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the death of Jonathan Corrie who perished on a doorstep within sight of Dáil Éireann.
The tragic death caught political and public attention at the time.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny spent a night with Dublin’s then lord mayor Christy Burke visiting those sleeping on the street and described his shock at “rats skittering across sodden blankets and beds of needles”.
Environment Minister Alan Kelly organised an emergency homeless summit and rolled out extra emergency beds.
This year 22 modular homes will be delivered for families currently living in emergency accommodation to move into before Christmas.
But a year after Mr Corrie’s death, charities say not enough has been done — take a walk down any city street at night and it’s impossible to miss the bodies wrapped in sleeping bags hunkering down on cardboard.
About 80 families in Dublin alone are now losing their homes each month and are being put into emergency accommodation which is also creaking at the seams, so much so that some are being asked to find their own hotel rooms each night.
Fr Peter McVerry, who has worked with the homeless for 40 years, says: “We need to declare emergency, because we have an emergency, the Government say they are doing everything possible, but the numbers are on the rise.
“271 new beds were opened after the death of Jonathan Corrie. Almost all of them are still open but they are all full, and the numbers on the streets are just going up and up again. They are opening up another 100 beds in the Dublin area, but they will all be full before Christmas.”
The Peter McVerry Trust has increased the number of beds in its hostels and has four residential services for those under 18 as well as three drug treatment centres.
Each Wednesday the Trust’s Berkeley St centre offers a warm breakfast. By getting people through the door it is hoped they will engage with staff who offer addiction support.
“Peter is like a father figure to me, he was more of a father to me than my real father,” says David Carroll, 40, who has now started with the stabilisation and recovery services.
He first met Fr McVerry age 13 when he was found sleeping rough by gardaí.
“I got brought up to Peter’s in Ballymum, Peter said there was no room but he said ‘you sleep in my bed tonight’.” A number of people attending the centre say they have nominated Fr McVerry as their next of kin, highlighting the strong ties many homeless people have with charity and outreach organisations.
Mr Carroll is eager to get off drugs. If he relapses, he says, “you are not only letting yourself down, you are letting people who are working with you down. They give you structure in your life; they tackle one problem at a time.
“First of all they do an assessment. You are then told to come back three times within a week and a half to show that you have a bit of commitment. Then, whatever your issue is, they will deal with it the best way they can with your doctor and with your peers.”
As the tinfoil is scrunched up and the last drops of tea drained, service manager Deirdre Rossiter explains the breakfast is just one slot in a packed timetable.
“We’re open five days a week, we open two evenings a week, on Wednesday evenings we have our youth café which is for 18 to 25-year-olds. We do our lunch on a Monday and we have our stabilisation service and our accommodation finders team here, so people can drop in and use the computers, but they also have the opportunity to have a one-to-one meeting with one of the team.”
There are also group meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.
Just a few streets away, Fr McVerry is in his office in the basement of a Jesuit Centre surrounded by pieces of paper, books, a computer, and a few people who have come in to warm up — not to mention a feisty Jack russell named Jack.
In the corner of the room is Jack’s rather large caged home that he wanders in and out of. It has cards and drawings pinned to it.
No matter how busy Fr McVerry is, or how many people cram into the room — sneaking chocolate from the box of Dairy Milk open on his desk — he seems to have time to deal with everyone.
This is a more informal drop-in centre, Fr McVerry explains: “It’s open to everyone and there are no questions asked, there is no judgement passed.
“They can come in, they can have a cup of tea or coffee, they can have sandwiches here all day long. If they need to they can have a shower here, they can wash their clothes, it’s a left luggage place.
“Most homeless people come in to meet their friends to socialise, to get out of the rain, but also they can talk to us,” he says as one man, cap over his face, snores on a chair.
“There is no typical day, I get up at 7am, I walk the dog I have breakfast and I come in here, I am in here somewhere between 8.30am and 9am depending on the traffic and then I am based here until 4pm. That doesn’t mean I am here. I could be going to a meeting, like this afternoon I have go to RTÉ to do a recording for the BBC, then this evening I have to go to Waterford.
“Then we close this drop-in centre at 4pm and, generally, if I don’t have a meeting to go to or a talk to give, I go back to Ballymum, I link in with a couple of our clients in Ballymum.
“At the moment with the housing issue so strong there are a lot of local communities putting on homeless meetings to inform people about the situation and to try and mobilise people to become involved.”
And in a day that never seems to end another group enter the centre — six transition year students on a week’s work experience back from a trip to the district court.
Grace Nally, 16, from Scoil Mhuire, Trim, Co Meath says: “Now I understand that everyone is homeless for a reason, people have their own stories, and sometimes it’s not their fault.”
Perhaps Government and other politicians could be sent on work experience to the Peter McVerry Trust.
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