The Waterford families sleeping on the streets just to stay together
The Waterford News and Star visited the Waterford Helping the Homeless unit for a third time to speak with some of the service users who won't leave them families behind. Stock Image.
When you think about homeless families, does a picture of Mom, Dad and 2.5 children come to mind?
If so, then us too.
But when the Waterford News and Star visited the Waterford Helping the Homeless unit, that’s not what we found.
Catherine and Jack are a mother and son who are both sleeping rough.
Eight and a half months ago, Catherine and Jack were renting a double room in a house with 13 people for €1000 a month from an unregistered landlord.
When the rent went up, mother and son had no choice but to leave their home.
“So, we tried to find Jack a room. We did find a room, not contracted, so I started doing the 9 to 9 [a council service that provides beds only for the night] because I felt like at least he was okay. I could do the 9-9. And I did that for eight and a half months, and he ended up in the same boat.
“It’s the same cycle,” said Catherine.
Jack had become homeless 12 days before we spoke to him and his mother.
He has been able to get a bed in the homeless hostel McGwire House three of those nights.
Four days ago, he lost his job because he no longer had access to showering facilities.
Catherine tells us that her now 25-year-old son has been working and paying tax since he was 17.
“Never got the dole, never did anything,” said Catherine.
Two months ago, Catherine was given a room at McGwire House.
But she told us she couldn’t leave Jack alone on the street because it isn’t safe, and so she has been sleeping rough with him some of the time.
When we spoke with Catherine, she was waiting to find out if she still had a room at McGwire House.
She has been out more than three nights, and the rules are that if you are not there, you lose your spot.
Nobody will contact her to let her know.
She will ring the bell, and they will let her in, or they won’t.
Joseph, his sister Linda and her two daughters will go into McGwire House together or not at all.
Linda tells us they are a family and they stick together.
She said might get a room ahead of her daughters but she wont leave them and all four of them present together as a unit.
“You don’t do that. No Mammy is going to do that," said Linda.
Linda has recently had hip surgery, and Joseph is her carer.
Her two daughters have special needs, and Joseph suffers from ADHD, Bipolar Disorder and PTSD.
Joseph said he is “born and bred” in Waterford and was made homeless two years ago when his family lost their home.
He tells us he does his best to keep his family safe, but sleeping in a tent makes you a target for the law and the lawless.
“We thought we were in a safe spot last night. You know where the Apple Market is, where that big car park is.
"Well, we went in there and tucked ourselves away in the back. At 2am this morning, the guards came with security, asking us to pull up our tents, pack up everything and move to another location.
“We said we want to be somewhere where we feel safe because we were on CCTV- anything can happen,” said Joseph.
Linda said before they were woken up, that was the first night she had been able to sleep deeply.
They moved to the back of the council building, where the garda told them they would be safe until morning.
This is the third time this paper has visited the unit this year and written about the stories of the people who rely on it.
One of the things that comes up again and again is the toll homelessness takes on one’s mental health.
It is a soul-destroying experience that leads to mental illness and addiction.
“If you don’t have a mental health issue, you are definitely going to have one when you are finished,” said Catherine.
Those we spoke to this week were on or supposed to be on medication.
Catherine told us she stopped taking her medication because it put her at risk on the street.
Unit manager Susie Moran told us that one service user who was not there the day we visited had taken his medication and went to sleep in his tent.
“He got an unmerciful beating, and he didn’t remember it because he was comatose after taking his medication in the park. We had to get him to the hospital, and his whole face was destroyed, and that’s only one. We are seeing this over and over,” said Susie.
Medication incapacitates people on the street and leaves them vulnerable to attacks, sometimes for their medicine.
Many turn to alcohol to cope.
“You have to drink. There is absolutely no way you can’t because you are awake all night. So you have to drink yourself into a sleep,” said another service user, Jason.
But Susie points out that if they present as drunk, they will not get a bed at all, and there is no treatment for alcohol addiction available to them.
For those with chronic physical illnesses, things are no better.
Jason has Crohn’s Disease but no regular access to a bathroom.
He told us he needs the bathroom a lot, but the 9-9 life he is forced to live makes taking care of his chronic illness impossible.
Nine to nine is an abbreviation for a service administered by Waterford City and County Council and managed by McGwire House.
Beds are provided from 9pm to 9am every night, but no facilities are available outside of those 12 hours.
This means that all those who need the service are forced to walk the streets during the day.
And there are not enough beds for everyone, so some are on the street 24 hours a day.
In February, the Waterford News & Star acquired figures from the council under the Freedom of Information Act that show there are 39 9-9 beds and eight out-of-hours beds available at McGwire House.
Out-of-hours beds are sometimes called cold-weather beds at the hostel, but they are not allocated at all during the summer.
This means there are empty beds tonight at the hostel and people sleeping outside of it.
Service users told us that some rooms in the hostel are big enough to fit five beds, but may only have one.
“We are in a crisis, and if there is a big room there that could fit five extra beds in, why in the name of God are they not putting five extra beds in.
“There are lads sleeping in doorways, stairways, and fields. Out in tents, sleeping bags. We are only volunteers, and we are trying to help, and the ones that have the authority to help aren’t doing it,” said Susie.
Waterford Helping the Homeless estimates that around 10 people are refused a bed each night.
But that doesn’t include the people who don’t present because they don’t believe they will get a bed.
The service users we spoke to feel like beds are not allocated fairly.
Some people, they say, seem to be able to jump the queue, and staff “pick and choose” who gets a bed.
At McGwire House, they are told the council allocate the beds, and the council tells them it's up to McGwire House.
Jason tells us he isn’t from the city but from West Waterford and has had to come to the city to present as homeless.
“I’m from the other side of Waterford. I’m closer to Cork than Waterford City. So I know nobody here and I don’t know the streets or nothing,” said Jason.
Jason can only register as homeless in one county, and that is Waterford, which means while there might be services in Cork or Kilkenny, they are not available to him.
He said that he was left outside McGwire House last night, and Jack gave him a blanket.
Services like Helping Hand will provide tents, but if left unattended even temporarily, the service users tell us that the council will take them away.
“It’s okay now, but we are heading into the winter, and half of them won’t survive,” said Susie.
The solution to this, Susie says, is a second hostel.
McGwire House is oversubscribed.
Susie says that if given a building, they can provide that.
“We are not asking for state-of-the-art buildings, only a building that is locked up and they are not doing anything with. We will do something. When we started out here, it was only an attic, and look at it now,” said Susie.
Alan, who volunteers at the unit but was formerly homeless, said all they ask for is compassion.
“Compassion is something we all deserve. Nobody wants to be on that side and that side. I mean this sincerely. We just want them to show compassion. Everyone in this situation,” said Alan.
Waterford Helping the Homeless is a volunteer-led group that operates out of the Marantha Church in Poleberry.
They provide breakfast from 11:30 am in the morning, Monday to Saturday and dinners on Sunday.
They also do outreach work.
They do not get any Government funding, and everything they provide is donated by members of the public.
Donations are always appreciated, and if you would like to donate goods, Susie said they are always in need of the basics, bread, milk and butter.
They also need ham, cheese, juices and soft drinks.
Sweets and biscuits are also greatly appreciated, but anything you can donate, the group will take.
“The public is the one providing, and without them, we wouldn’t be here,” said Susie.
But all of the service users we spoke to were in agreement that this is all down to Susie.
“What Susie has done in keeping this place open is she has given people back their dignity. To be able to spend some time here, away from what’s going on in their lives. And that’s why we need support systems to keep this going,” said Alan.
Susie says if anyone would like to visit, they are more than welcome to do so.
Although the stories in this report are heartbreaking, Susie says there is always hope.
“We always say there is no such thing as a hopeless case, and we always live in hope as well.
“We hope someone will listen and help, which is why we are asking you to do this in the hope someone will read the article or hear about it or something and help us in some way,” said Susie.
