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“I WAS LITERALLY just rock bottom. I was seven years out on the streets.”
Geoff, a Dublin Simon Community client, had been homeless for seven years after he could no longer afford to rent.
He tried to give up alcohol on numerous occasions and attempted counselling a number of times, but it never worked out for him.
Geoff spoke at the Dublin Simon Community annual impact report launch today, where he told the audience about his journey through the charity’s detox and recovery programmes. His story was also included in the report.
“I was rock bottom, I had lost the will to live,” he said.
The report noted that Geoff was “nervous” about entering the charity’s treatment services, but that he “knew in his own heart and soul” that he wanted to try.
“I don’t know how many times I tried to give up drink and I don’t know how many times I went for counselling. None of them worked out,” he said in the report.
Geoff took part in Dublin Simon Community’s detox programme for three weeks. He remains in recovery and has been provided with a home.
“I entered detox and in a matter of hours, something sparked inside me,” he told the audience. “The amount of support I have received is unbelievable.”
Since then, Geoff has linked in with the Community Employment Scheme through his key worker and has been working in maintenance.
“This morning I woke up, the minute I got out of bed I was singing, just totally full of joy. It’s great to be alive I was saying to myself. There’s no way I’m going back. That’s how I just keep going forward and forward,” he said in the report.
“The person I see when I’m looking in the mirror now is the person I always wanted to be.”
Impact report
Geoff spoke as Dublin Simon Community launched its annual impact report earlier today. He represents just one of the thousands of people the charity supported last year.
In 2017, Dublin Simon Community delivered housing, health and support services to 6,285 people in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. This was a 22% increase in overall service delivery on 2016.
Last year, the charity resettled 1,006 adults and 1,028 children (797 households) out of homelessness and into homes.
It provided treatment services to 694 people, a 24% increase on the previous year.
Meanwhile, 1,042 people accessed the charity’s Medical Residential Treatment and its Sure Steps Counselling services.
In all, the charity provided 2,250 hours of one to one counselling and mental health support to clients accessing its Sure Steps Counselling service.
Speaking about the report, Sam McGuinness, CEO of the Dublin Simon Community, emphasised the need for additional housing to significantly reduce the number of people who are stuck in emergency accommodation.
He also said that housing alone is not the 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,” McGuinness said.
“In order for this work to continue, additional housing must be delivered at a more accelerated rate.”
Latest figures for July show that the number of homeless people and families in the State has increased to a new record level.
The Department of Housing has recorded that there were 6,024 adults and 3,867 children in emergency accommodation during the week of 23-29 July.
Dublin Simon Community provides services to people in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. It has recently expanded its service delivery to Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.
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Perhaps Simon should take over the Housing Minister position.
Every story about the homeless has a real live human being behind it. Some like this guy make it out of the gutter, alcohol and the rent situation put him in the gutter.
Yet all we hear from FG supporters here is slander with no bounds, as they queue up to pour their vitriolic bile on anyone who’s situation has being highlighted. Everyone is a sponger, a freeloader, wants a mythical free house, never worked in their life. All to justify the neglect of the poor and less well off, and deflect on the huge damage done to society by government policies.
@Dave Doyle: It’s so true it would make you sick. This country is in one horrible mess and the worst thing is it would take something on a revolutionary scale to change it.
Well done to simon services… the goverment s minister regina Doherity has decided to not give xmas bonus this year is she fr real ??? Pay rises were given to herself and her cohorts but the rest of us are crippled with high taxs we are paying the higest mortgage rates in the EU.. car tax insurance is also higher..half the country are homeless ..hope this goverment including fianna fail who are supporting their decisions are destroyed in the next election…they are not fit fr purpose
@Mari: we are not the most expensive country in the EU, also renting is more prominent in other countries. Yes we have a massive problem with homelessness and people living in emergency accommodation we are not the worst in EU either. This does not mean I think anyone should be let off the hook for the shambles the country is in, but the people here need to take off the rose tinted glasses
@GClare: we absolutely are one of the most expensive countries for gas, electricity, insurance, food, housing and so on.
When you include taxes we get little in return by way of services for all, such as healthcare.
The only person with rose tinted glasses here is you. You clearly haven’t been living in Ireland the last 10years with that attitude.
@Regina Farrell: By your rationale, the government should have their salaries suspended. Certainly housing, justice, healthcare, transport and the Taoiseach. Manipulating the system and doing sweet effay in return.
Fair play to Geoff! Onwards..Great admiration for a person homeless after 7 years and to come back. With the right people anything is possible!
@paul christopher cox: Indeed, imagine if FF/FG/labour gave as much of a care, what might be possible… Geoff and many more might’ve been contributing to our society if our governments had actually come up with solutions instead creating the problems in the first place.
Pity they don’t finance ngo’s the same way public servants are. Staff at NGO’s are the cheap version of public services and are expected to do similar work.
@Brian Smith: now that really does depend on the NGO; take a look into background of charities, remember the scandal a few years ago, that was not made up!!! And it is world wide not just Ireland
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