Impromptu Ask Me Anything: Homelessness

bilbot79

Do you also work part time as well as go to college?

ogsjw

Not happy hearing all these stories. Not surprised Cope wouldn't help until they saw someone check into dangerous homeless accommodation. Homeless services are a fcking joke here.

"Keeping yourself safe? Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Welp, there must be a concert or something on this weekend because hostels are 240+ for the next seven days, so that's me out on me arse until Sunday afternoon, hope y'all are faring better

circadian

Some miserable bastards on this thread. OP has made, a tough but logical decision in putting education first in the hope of long term wellbeing instead of short term wellbeing with less security. It's tough to see the long game and do what they think is right but hats off.

As for complaining about people on here not helping instead of chastising. Most of us are struggling with things one way or another. People are finding it hard to string together money to have a roof over their head and food on the table. I'd consider myself financially comfortable at the minute, thankfully, but I'm working my balls off to create a a safety net as is my partner. Another recession could have us on the ropes. We have two young children so there's a lot of sleepless nights, long days and early starts. We have no family local to help out and friends all have young children too. We're exhausted both physically and mentally.

Here's the thing, as much as rent/mortgages are insane here so is childcare. I'd imagine there are huge amounts of families at risk of moving to temporary housing while trying to figure out that if the extra €50 a month after childcare one of the incomes provides is worth it or should they become single income.

As much as I'd love to help someone like OP out, and I have done in the past when I've had less money, I honestly couldn't cope with taking that extra load on. Again, many people are in similar circumstances.

So yeah, miserable bastards. Just because you have a support network or things have fallen better for you doesn't mean that OP has made a decision to take the hard road, I don't know anyone would willingly make that choice. Wise up would ye's.

Annasopra

Homeless2019 wrote: »

Man, it's 3am, pissing rain outside, and maybe the mods can verify that I'm posting from a PC in a well-known Dublin college.



Bit too much work for just a wind-up.



I've been involved in a few societies in college, I know what resources are like here. By all means I'll speak to College support people, but their welfare schemes are well publicised, and they don't pay anyone's rent. Nor would I ask them to.



The point of this thread was only so that people could ask anything they want of a homeless person, if they were curious.

The students unions often have emergency welfare funding!

Annasopra

kippy wrote: »

The OP obviously is thinking long term and believes that an education is better for them than a roof over their head right now.
I can see you you might find some of my posting judgemental - I can't really do much about that. I've no intention of being passive aggressive - wouldn't be in me.

Yes I do.

You assume that the OP has lots of opportunities and networks just because you have them. Very odd.

weldoninhio

Homeless2019 wrote: »

I'm not drinking away the 250-odd quid I earn a week, if that's what you're asking, nor do I struggle with managing money. You get pretty good at handling money when necessity dictates it.

I can't cook at the homeless hostel, there's no kitchen. So everything has to be bought in shops and cafes, which is a big hit. There's also the hostel's rent, and the cost of getting public transport to and from work. I'm lucky that all my basic needs are net, but there's no way I can pay rent on top of this.

And yes, I could probably put whatever I can save towards a deposit, but my hours aren't even guaranteed in the shop I work in, I have no idea what I'll be earning a month from now.

I don't want to come across as trying to sound self-pitying, I'm just explaining the facts exactly as they are right now. I've done the sums, I've queued for the flat-shares, it is really not doable.

I've seen the unemployment slips of some of the guys I'm in the hostel with, and they're on approximately the same money as me. Does anyone really think you can rent a flat-share in Dublin on your Dole and eat and afford the bus, at the same time? I'd love to hear how that works!

Food costs feck all nowadays, a small sliced and some ham or chicken etc would do lunches for 2/3 days for less that E5. Lidl and Aldi do a Super 6 on fruit for snacks. The Leap is capped at E27.50 a week. Something doesn't add up.

weldoninhio

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

That the most ridiculous attempt at pedantry I've seen in days.

You people with no fixed address, who don't know where they will sleep from one day to the next, are homeless.

The OP is homeless but every working definition of the term.

Homeless by choice though. They could easily drop out of college and get a full time job. Doesn't have to be in Dublin. But they are choosing college over a stable roof at this point in time.

Rachiee

I have been working in the homeless sector for fifteen years, there are a lot of willfully naive people on this thread.
Yes it would be lovely to think that all working people would be able to afford somewhere to rent.
That people would have families and friends that they can stay with.
That colleges would have funds to support homeless students.
That social welfare would be able to help with travel expenses.
That landlords would be happy to accept HAP when they have a q of full time workers offering the same money !
Unfortunately this is not the case. Best of f luck OP I think you are absolutely making the right decision staying in college, sometimes life sucks, hopefully things will work out.

Re the dry hostels there is one that isn't supported by DCC. It's run by a religious organisation, it's called Morning Star and it's on Brunswick St. you just call for an interview to see if they've a vacancy. Good luck

kippy

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Yes I do.

You assume that the OP has lots of opportunities and networks just because you have them. Very odd.

I don't assume anything - in fact it's been made fairly obvious that these supports aren't there.

I asked the OP why they don't have these types of support networks and whether they could utilise what they have more so that they manage to get some stability at least as they get through exams etc in college.

i worked in housing, front line, seven years. also worked my way through college in sometimes very difficult circumstances. also put up siblings when it had to be done to get them through similar situation as op. ill take internet posters levelling at me that i dont or couldnt imagine myself in this position with as much of a pinch of salt as seems best to me thanks

having a hack at anyone questioning how the op finds themselves in their circumstances is just playing the usual boards game of it being easy to do the u ok hun xxx spiel on the internet. if theres a real issue (in this case there is) and the op has the power to do something about it (they do) even if that is to consider what they might have done or do differently from now on (valid here) then one cranky bugger on boards talking to you the way your grandad would is worth all the virtual cuddles and sighs in the world.

refusing to acknowledge- and you see this a lot- that just because someone made a difficult decision that doesnt mean they dont have to pay the price of that decision is hollywood stuff. otherwise it wouldnt be a difficult decision, would it now?

kippy is inviting the op to let us know a bit more or possibly inviting the op to look a bit more at what brought them here. im inviting the op to look at their actual options. nobody is being orrible here but at the same time im not aware thats theres a minimum threshold of lachrymosity that we should reach before our perspectives are valid.

ogsjw

Rachiee wrote: »

I have been working in the homeless sector for fifteen years

What are your opinions on how the homeless sector won't help the 'hidden homeless' even find rented accommodation because they exercised family planning, stayed away from drugs and won't go into the homeless hostels because they're too dangerous? McVerry's has an 'accommodation finding service' and they are extremely discriminatory with it; I've spoken to the Charity Regulator and they will do nothing about it despite the blatant breach of the Equal Status Act.

Rachiee wrote: »

Re the dry hostels there is one that isn't supported by DCC. It's run by a religious organisation, it's called Morning Star and it's on Brunswick St. you just call for an interview to see if they've a vacancy. Good luck

The Morning Star is practically an old folks home with an 8PM curfew and no internet access, I don't think that suits OP's needs with college etc. The Iveagh might be better but is much harder to get in to and almost double the price. Unfortunately there is no safe and semi-permanent solution for any of the homeless individuals in this thread to make some positive changes. The homeless sector continues to ignore the hidden homeless who aren't even looking for handouts, just the ability to rent, but can't get past landlords who won't accept HAP (despite that being illegal).

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

What are your opinions on how the homeless sector won't help the 'hidden homeless' even find rented accommodation because they exercised family planning, stayed away from drugs and won't go into the homeless hostels because they're too dangerous? McVerry's has an 'accommodation finding service' and they are extremely discriminatory with it; I've spoken to the Charity Regulator and they will do nothing about it despite the blatant breach of the Equal Status Act.






The Morning Star is practically an old folks home with an 8PM curfew and no internet access, I don't think that suits OP's needs with college etc. The Iveagh might be better but is much harder to get in to and almost double the price. Unfortunately there is no safe and semi-permanent solution for any of the homeless individuals in this thread to make some positive changes. The homeless sector continues to ignore the hidden homeless who aren't even looking for handouts, just the ability to rent, but can't get past landlords who won't accept HAP (despite that being illegal).

A TEA might be a better option for the OP.
If he uses his rolling bed regularly, hopefully he get a six month STA placement somewhere but ideally a TEA with support around accessing housing.

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

A TEA might be a better option for the OP.
If he uses his rolling bed regularly, hopefully he get a six month STA placement somewhere but ideally a TEA with support around accessing housing.

What's a TEA?



STA's are... a very mixed bag, but OP might want to look into Crossgar or Backlane, I heard they're decent, en-suite single rooms even.



If he's even able to go through the motions only to be shot down at this point; I gave up expecting any form of practical help a long time ago. The ineffectiveness of homeless charities is the worst part of the whole process.

Rachiee

OP has no power and over whether or not they get a TEA or even an STA in a better hostel, this is up to parkgate street.
Even though morning star is indeed very basic and is full of older men, it is at least not surrounded by drugs and violence, I didn't mention Iveagh as their waiting list is huge !

I can't possibly comment on the accommodation finder service but I do know that all the services are pushed past their limits, so it may be easier for them to say we are focusing on people registered as homeless with the local authorities.

ogsjw

Rachiee wrote: »

so it may be easier for them to say we are focusing on people registered as homeless with the local authorities.

They are refusing people who are registered as such.

It may be up to Parkgate at the end of the day but getting a care worker who isn't awful is also important, as they have connections within. Decent care workers are practically gold dust in this town though.

What is a TEA?

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

They are refusing people who are registered as such.

It may be up to Parkgate at the end of the day but getting a care worker who isn't awful is also important, as they have connections within. Decent care workers are practically gold dust in this town though.

What is a TEA?

Temporary Emergency Accommodation, it's a step up from STA

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

They are refusing people who are registered as such.

It may be up to Parkgate at the end of the day but getting a care worker who isn't awful is also important, as they have connections within. Decent care workers are practically gold dust in this town though.

What is a TEA?

What do you mean connection within ?

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

What do you mean connection within ?

A care worker who is actually worth their salt and has connections and some sway within Parkgate Hall, from forwarding decent folk in the past. There are very few that I know of that have some kind of sway upstream but they do exist.

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

A care worker who is actually worth their salt and has connections and some sway within Parkgate Hall, from forwarding decent folk in the past. There are very few that I know of that have some kind of sway upstream but they do exist.

Are you using homeless services yourself ?

Pissartist

Homeless people living in tents in the Phoenix park leave rubbish all over the place, could you not use a bin there's loads of them.

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

Are you using homeless services yourself ?

Gave up on that a long time ago, there's no help to get people with no substance issues/welfare babies back in to renting. Although the nite cafe is happening this weekend, there must be a match or concert on as tourists hostels were X2 the cost at least.

Pissartist wrote: »

Homeless people living in tents in the Phoenix park leave rubbish all over the place, could you not use a bin there's loads of them.

My favourite is at the food runs, particularly at the GPO, it's always the narcotics experts with the overt 'I am Irish' tattoo that are littering the GPO of all places, with rubbish bags right there in front of them. Zero self-awareness.

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

Gave up on that a long time ago, there's no help to get people with no substance issues/welfare babies back in to renting. Although the nite cafe is happening this weekend, there must be a match or concert on as tourists hostels were X2 the cost at least.



My favourite is at the food runs, particularly at the GPO, it's always the narcotics experts with the overt 'I am Irish' tattoo that are littering the GPO of all places, with rubbish bags right there in front of them. Zero self-awareness.

I'm over ten years working in homeless/ drug services myself.

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

I'm over ten years working in homeless/ drug services myself.

That's a lot of sandwiches/tae.

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

That's a lot of sandwiches/tae.

That got me laughing.

ILoveYourVibes

What would be the one thing you would want people to know?

What is the one misconception people have?

What keeps you going?

What is your biggest fear?

What is your biggest obstacle?

What could someone do to help?

ogsjw

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

What would be the one thing you would want people to know?

What is the one misconception people have?

What keeps you going?

What is your biggest fear?

What is your biggest obstacle?

What could someone do to help?

You talking to me? Hope you are or else I'll just embarrass myself.

I'll go by order.

The biggest misconception, held even by the highest housing figures in the land, is that homelessness is caused by substance abuse and 'years of bad behaviour'. I don't even smoke. I had absolutely no control over the actions of the people who left me homeless. I had a job, a place, I had savings. All of that was dependent on a certain Irish body doing their job; some members of decided it wasn't their job. I'm homeless because of one word on one document. Sorry for the vagueness. It will go to court maybe a year down the line but that's not going to help me in the meantime. I fought to try and make sure this one document didn't **** me but I wasn't succesful.
The only thing that is a common thread amongst all homeless is lack of family/support structure. That is the only singular thread running through all of us. There are dozens of us, if not more, out here that are completely average joes with few to no issues apart from the housing market being a disaster.

Getting the bastards who destroyed my life and put me out here is the only thing that keeps me going.

I'm already living my biggest fear.

My biggest obstacle is asshole baby boomer landlords who won't let me spend a month or two on HAP while I recuperate from this nightmare and get some work sorted. There's no point doing the job first. There is no guarantee with tourist hostels, like this weekend for example, and I've been assaulted before, had a big black eye for most of last November, not exactly how you want to be starting a job, and it could literally happen again any day. People like us are just very, very exposed to the potential of violence at literally any point of the day. I could tell you stories, and it's only be 10 months for me.

No one can help.

corner of hells

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

What would be the one thing you would want people to know?

What is the one misconception people have?

What keeps you going?

What is your biggest fear?

What is your biggest obstacle?

What could someone do to help?

Why do birds suddenly appear ?

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

Why do birds suddenly appear ?

And that's about as much help as care workers are, not that you knew to ask that question

corner of hells

ogsjw wrote: »

And that's about as much help as care workers are, not that you knew to ask that question

Now , now ... let's at least be polite.

mariaalice

Some are better at it than others if that makes sense, the original op would be better off on BTEA that trying to work and going ot college they need a good key worker who would help with HAP ( they might be lucky ) there are ways of getting food free or for very little they also need to use the counseling and support services the college offfer there are lots of small ways they could help them.

jaysus theres only one job out there now and all 🙄

ogsjw

corner of hells wrote: »

Now , now ... let's at least be polite.

You're right. That was unfair of me.

Youz are also good for a pair of socks for those who won't use washing machines :pac:

PMBC

SteelyDanJalapeno wrote: »

Is there no student accommodation available?
Have you discussed your hard times with the college? You'd be surprised how much they can help.

Very good suggestion. A friend who was in financial difficulties recently got help in this way from their 'uni'.
Wishing you well

chrissb8

poisonated wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your situation. I wash you the best of luck.

I too hope you rinse above your situation soon.