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FACING HOMELESSNESS IS a traumatic experience. Doing so in a foreign country without the language skills to deal with the dreaded bureaucracy can – and does -compound the difficult.
Crosscare, an agency of the Dublin Archdiocese, seeks to help those facing problems with housing and other social welfare issues. The majority of people it helps are foreign nationals, running frequent language specialist clinics in Polish, Chinese and Roma amongst others.
Looking back over the first year of service in their Sackville House facility, the charity examined some of its successful cases.
Anthony Edgar
When Anthony came back to Ireland after a number of years working in Europe, unexpected events meant he found himself without a place to live.
“When I came back, I was depressed for about seven and a half years when I lost my other half to cancer, I stayed in bed for seven and a half years… it happened overnight, I had everything and I lost everything.”
With the help of Crosscare, Anthony was able to find accommodation and get back on his feet. He now dedicates his time to helping those faced with similar difficulties to himself.
“What I do with my money when I get it is help the homeless on the streets… at the moment I am using this book ‘Chineasy’ to try and learn some basic Cantonese. Because there are a lot of older Chinese people that come to this country and are struggling, and I think people need to reach out.”
Andre and Sofia
Andre and Sofia are refugees in Ireland. Finding suitable accommodation was initially difficult for the pair as Sofia has exceptional health needs. When their adult son left home, they had to find alternative accommodation because their rent supplement was lowered.
At this pressing juncture, they sought help through an information and advocacy officer. With Crosscare advocating on their behalf, Andre and Sofia were eventually given the higher rent supplement and allowed to stay in their home.
Andre, a qualified doctor in his own country, has since been working towards getting his qualifications recognised in Ireland.
Dominique
Many cases of homelessness arise due to difficulties dealing with the bureaucracy in the Department of Social Protection. This was the case for Dominique, a single parent with four children. After being offered social housing by her local county council, she gave notice to her landlord and left her rented accommodation.
The social housing was not ready in time and the council had to withdraw the offer, rendering Dominique and her children homeless. Having to then deal with the voluntary housing association, bureaucratic misunderstanding lead to Dominique becoming ineligible for the council housing list for one year.
Dominique was faced with having to live in a hostel for six months while a Judicial Review was sought. With the help of Crosscare, Dominique was offered three choices of social housing.
Lyudmyla Vinnikova
Lyudmyla Vinnikova is now a hospitality volunteer with Crosscare, having previously been a user of the service. Originally from the Ukraine, Vinnikova spoke of the difficulty of first coming to Ireland with her family as a refugee, and the support given to her by Crosscare.
On the help that Crosscare had given her, Vinnikova said:
You helped me to survive, because I was in a very difficult situation. I don’t feel alone anymore. You helped me to get my papers, to get a flat, my social welfare money and you helped me with everything.
Speaking at the launch, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said: “The important thing is that you help the people that you are working with to stand up for their own rights and to free themselves.”
The service is made up of three branches: housing and welfare information, the migrant project and the refugee service. The majority of those that Crosscare deal with are migrants, about 90% of them having been born outside of Ireland. A number of them are now naturalised citizens.
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It’s a tough enough job housing and looking after our own, how on earth can a little bankrupt country like this take care of everybody who decides to come here?
Ah here! This place gets more ludicrous by the day. Unless these people have been working for a considerable amount of time and paid tax in this country, I’m sorry but they deserve nothing. It’s bad enough handing houses to our own scroungers. End social housing!!!!!
Mark
Not everyone who gets a council house are scroungers. you are a moron for saying that.
Mark, The government haven’t built any social housing since the 90′s and look at the mess we are in! Dublin rent prices are out of control, another boom on the horizon pricing most young people out of buying a home. The only people that gain from the lack of social housing are the government, landlord class and bankers. Comprende! Mark you’d want to educate yourself and start looking at the bigger picture instead of lambasting anybody who has been allocated a house by the government.
How about affordable housing for middle class people?? The ones who are paying for them. No chance of that, they’re given to scobies and layabouts instead. Had enough of your condescending replies Ted, you ars*hole.
@John Deane – either affordable housing for everybody or for nobody. Drop the Socialist policies that that are propping up the work dodgers and crippling the middle class. Good chap.
I’ll gladly pay more rent in Dublin and less tax for bums and junkies. Good deal.
Would gladly support paying for their flights back home if they can’t support themselves here.
We already pay for their flights home but most don’t want to go because as bad as it is here it’s worse there.
Of course they wouldn’t! Because things are not bad here, we hand them anything they need. The choice for all immigrants in every country should be, make your own way or go back home.
People who are living in a war torn country will do anything to get away from that situation. Asylum seekers know that they will be treated more humanly in Ireland compared to most other E.U countries so they flock here.
In saying that, the Government need to close the borders and deport any future asylum seekers who slip through the net until we have our own house in order. Asylum seekers who are already here must be treated humanly, integrated into society and be given the opportunity to contribute positively.
well i know it may be the case now, but didn’t know there was refugees coming here from Ukraine in the past decade or so. so why are the majority dealt with here at 90% and not helping our own homeless? is this really news? no, we already knew this.
This is whats causing the racism in Ireland,these people come over and get look after could i go over to Latvia or Romania and get a house don’t think so.sick of it,about 6 of the living behind my every day there out the back drinking where the fuk do they get the money from.
It’s the same situation across Europe. Italy, France, Greece to name a few.. Our system just happens to be more generous than a lot of other EU countries. Roma’s aren’t representative of Romanian people – a bit like the travellers in England – we’re not too proud of them!! They don’t necessarily come here from Romania either, they’re scattered all over Europe. That’s besides the point anyway..
I agree with you btw, not sure I made that clear..
many more countries Jimmy, many more just aren’t as so generous as ours. Even socially i notice what is expected of us. They love ‘free’ but don’t give, its not in their nature nor is it in their own governments nature which explains.
Some walkovers here, this joke must stop.
“You helped me to survive, because I was in a very difficult situation. I don’t feel alone anymore. You helped me to get my papers, to get a flat, my social welfare money and you helped me with everything.”
Delighted Crosscare could help you get “your” Social Welfare money, Vinnikova, least they could do, I wonder if they could help my brother?, worked all his life, raised a family, payed off a mortgage, payed his taxes, was made redundant a few years ago, but, because his wife has a part time job he has “means” so he is not entitled to “his” Social Welfare money, but then, who gives a $hit about him, he is Irish.
One fool of a country, but still, a great little country for some, keep up the good work.
‘As long as we train people to look down, they never look up’ My quote,
Everyone here is so right, sure that’s what the papers, news, social media tells us to think.
Of course it’s the 30,000 refugee/asylum seekers we have accepted fault we are in a recession. What about them single parents they cost 12% social welfare bill. Thank God for the Bankers, without them we wouldn’t have 85billion debt. Thank God for our Political Leaders, Enda rightly deserves annual income 50% more than Obama, 40% more than Angela Merkel. Thank God for the commenters on the Journal, without their sheer intelligence, people might start to Look Up and see things like Civil Servants over €100,000 salary have received 1.4billion in increments in the last 3yrs. Yes, it’s the refugees, Asylum seekers, single parents, low income families in need social housing Fault Ireland in a recession…….
We are in a mess we cannot look after our people so I don’t see why my taxes should go to looking after the rest of the world who come here to avail of out lax social welfare policies and don’t contribute anything , when times were bad and the Irish went to England and the USA looking for work i don’t remember the red carpet been rolled out for us we had to earn to survive and we were not bad people either.
I don’t see why my taxes should pay for healthcare or education for people like you but that’s life!
You would support an African before an Irish person?
Irish, African, Chinese, Australian or whatever. Everyone should be treated equally.
So people who’ve just arrived should get as much as people who paid into the system all their lives?
If they cant speak the language send them home
Irish Leslie…. How’s yours?
Next up for them the Citizenship ceremony lol!!!
Our family were in dire straights in Ireland here during the fifties and had to emmigrate to the UK to survive,we got no free handouts but what we got was the oppertunity to work hard and better ourselves,with the result that most of them done very well in life, the same should apply to people who arrive in this country today,most people need a helping hand at some stage in their life, but making them dependent on free handouts is not the way to do it,give them the means to stand on their own two feet and they will not only benifit themselves but evem more important will be an asset to the country.
The new Aussie government just ducks everyone off, regardless if the boat is sinking or not, no one gets in anymore
You say that like it’s a good thing
holds up placard “And We Are Not Made Of Money”
reality check but irish taxpayers money is given to every basket case african country through foreign aid and the rest spent on these representative quangos before the govt ever thinks of its own citizens………funny we dont have any quango tax funded group who looks after the irish in ireland it seems every day we have another tax payer funded representative body for illegal immigrants,travellers,romas,africans,etc etc etc set up and given easy acess to the media to bleat on how we should help everybody and ignore our own homeless,poor,etc etc..we should adopt the same rules as oz,usa,canada, you cant support yourself or have a job lined up then back on next plane out of ireland or the next boat…but no the bleeding heart tax funded quangos and bleeding heart media commentators run this country to the detriment of the citizens
I must save this story for the winter months because it makes me feel all warm inside and I will struggle to pay my heating bills in the winter, thank you Crosscare for helping these blow ins get their mits on my taxes which I have paid for over 20 years yet I still struggle everyday to pay bills and feed my family since the government decided to attack all middle income families in this country. Will Crosscare help me? I think not.
They are laughing at us suckers.
Well, you’re one of the self righteous morons who is holding these people back. Encouraging them to do nothing for themselves because somebody else will always bail them out. I pity people stricken by poverty across the world, I do not pity somebody who was born in one of the most prosperous countries on earth, given every opportunity in life, including the things you listed above but decided to take drugs and become a nuisance to the rest of society instead. How about feeding and housing a few homeless people yourself, if you’re so compassionate. Like that’s going to happen. You wouldn’t be long changing your tune if the house next door became a junkies retreat. For once, how about compassion for people who actually contribute something to society..
Reply for was Pam. There’s a glitch in The Journals software. Any chance of fixing it lads?
You know nothing about me, where I’ve lived, what I do. I’ve clearly hit a nerve with you though. But I still have empathy for you mark, because it must not be pleasant carrying around such disgust and distaste towards your fellow human beings.
Did you get a rush pointing out that tech error to the journal? Maybe relax and have a cup of tea knowing that hard work is all that matters in life….the women who toiled in the fields of Sri Lanka or India picking it are rolling in their dough as their reward, as are the supermarket staff who served you, their hard work never sees them fret about the fee for the doc when their baby is ill. €8.65 p/hr sure you’d be living like a king!
I usually get and expect a lot of thumbs down, but you’re getting even more. Maybe it’s you who should be taking a reality check. No, I didn’t get any rush.. I simply pointed out that it skews conversation on here and happens regularly. Did I say it aggressively? No. Haven’t a clue what you’re talking about after that. Rambling leftie nonsense is useful when you don’t have an argument. €8.65 is a damn sight more than you’ll get in most other countries on earth.
Theres a character in the Viz comic called “Millie Tant and her radical conscience”, I think Pam is life imitating art.
The compassion and care demonstrated by what is still the 11th richest country (per capita) as demonstrated by the comments here leaves me speechlesss.
Are you f*cking joking? Help genuine people in need of course, not layabouts and people arriving here without a word of English. Middle class earners are been taxed into poverty, rental and housing prices have gone through the roof and these layabouts, Irish or otherwise are handed everything on a plate. I wonder how compassionate you’d be if a dirtbag family got a free house next door to you. Nimbyism is common in do-gooders. No problem with people arriving here to make a better life for themselves but SUPPORT yourself, don’t expect me to do it.
I know, I regret clicking!
What about all the elderly Irish in England (and elsewhere) now living in poverty relying on their welfare system. Should they be sent back to here where they have no family, friends, social support? they also wouldn’t satisfy the habitual residence conditions for assistance here. Before some smart yoke says that they worked and contributed in England, many didn’t pay tax because they worked for Irish shysters who paid them cash in hand, the type of nod and wink blokes that this country produces in abundance.
I have no sympathy for Irish people overseas who have done or are doing the same thing. If you don’t have the intelligence to know that you’re working for a shyster for 40 years you’re quite simply braindead and probably better off 6 foot under. That said, I find that very hard to believe anyway!! It’s more likely they spent a long time on the dole too. They should move here were they would receive a generous pension..
Thankfully most people don’t think as black and white as that. I’ve seen your disgusting comments about homeless people on the other thread so I’m not even going to engage with you. I believe in humanity and empathy and not the sociopathic notion that some people are less deserving of basics such as a safe place to live and food in their bellies just because of their economic position/race/religion/”IQ”
Well Miss bleeding heart Pam, maybe you got a few spare rooms to put some of them up since you are so wonderful and generous, but I think you would rather spend MY hard earned taxes on them.
You may end up on the dole someday, nice to see generalizing in your posts, lets just get rid of social welfare why dont we and you know even if they try to look for work who cares! THEY CAN STARVE TO DEATH! JUST SO YOU KEEP YOUR TAXES MARK!
Social Welfare should not be for foreigners.
Here is the thing people. If someone genuinely wants to come here to work and has a clear skillbase they should be assisted and welcomed and I would hope that be the case in Ireland in 2014. If a person does not have a skill or does not want to work and claim from our social welfare fund then they need to be blocked from entering here. A person or family living here that is unwilling time and time again to engage with the workforce should be asked to leave the state and a timeframe given to allow that person/family to return to their own state or country. I am not a racist but we have to look at the fact that Ireland and Europe are way behind America, Canada and Australia in terms of immigration. We cannot feed the world but we can designate help for some that come here but not everyone.
Pól, agree with you 100%. I hate racism too, but have zero time for scroungers, regardless of nationality. Vigilante, I haven’t said anything about scrapping social welfare. I said cut off undeserving people. You’d be surprised how pro-active they’d be without 200 quid a week.
people should not be let into this country unless they can make a positive contribution.this crap of people coming here and getting handouts left,right and centre is a complete joke.maybe the government should change the law so that immigrants get the exact same here as they would in their own country.maybe then it might make them think twice before coming here for the benefits
Too many immigrants have ruined this country which has been an open door for every non English speaking national .Even ex convicts are welcome here.No wonder there is so much trouble.
its not ruined, its f*****d inc. housing availability and jobs.
im sick of the self-rightious people on this. with there never ending individualistic quote of MY taxes pay for unemployed. everybody that works inc myself pays taxes, an i dont mind, because thats how the system works, now get over it.
I just rote on mary lou mcdonald face page,any won that agrees with what i said should do the same..
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