One of Dublin's biggest homeless service providers said today it had seen a "huge increase" in the numbers of people seeking assistance.
Publishing its 2007 annual report this morning, Dublin Simon Community said its rough-sleeper team had recorded a 48 per cent increase in people seeking help.
Referrals by the Dublin Simon rough-sleeper team to the Homeless Person Unit/ Freephone increased during this same period by 74 per cent, from 243 referrals in 2007 to 424 in 2008.
"Working at the coalface of homelessness, we have seen an increased demand on our services. In the current economic climate we would plead to the government that the upcoming budget cannot be a time to further punish those on the margins of society", said Dublin Simon chief executive Sam McGuinness.
In an effort to combat the rise in homelessness, Dublin Simon recently opened two night shelters, one in the city centre and one in Dún Laoghaire. These shelters provide an extra 28 emergency beds in Dublin.
The Dublin Simon Community 2007 Annual Report
A Twelve Month Snapshotis a compilation of photographs taken by Dublin Simon service users who participated in a digital photography class. The theme of the project was 'Past, Present and Future' and participants produced powerful and emotive shots representing these parts of their lives. The interests and abilities of the participants were highly diverse as were their support needs which included long-tem homelessness, institutional care, family breakdown, ill-health, substance use, mental ill-health and learning difficulties.
Last year the Dublin Simon rough-sleeper team piloted a needle exchange progamme in conjunction with the HSE and. The service offers advice on safe needle use, referral into addiction services, exchange, needle packs, and referral into accommodation.
The organisation also initiated a detox pilot scheme for service users with both alcohol and drug dependencies.
Speaking at the launch of the annual report, Irish Timesjournalist and broadcaster Fintan O'Toole said: "The work of the Dublin Simon Community has continued to remind us that homeless people are not mere lost souls but are citizens with the same rights and aspirations as everybody else.
"The Government has rightly recognised this by setting a target for the elimination of long-term homelessness. In doing so, it has recognised that homelessness can be eliminated and therefore accepted the moral
obligation to do so.
"In straitened economic times it is all the more important that the needs of the most vulnerable section of society are protected. No-one should be higher on that list of priority than homeless citizens."
