North West Simon Community
23 Mail Coach Rd.,
Sligo
,
North West Simon Community believes that any person who sleeps rough, lives in
emergency accommodation or in inadequate, insecure or unsafe housing is
experiencing homelessness. People sleeping out in doorways, parks, in derelict
sites and in abandoned cars experience the most extreme form of homelessness.
This is what most of the public think of when they hear the word 'homeless'.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 'invisible' homeless, people who live in
emergency accommodation, in shelters, hostels, refuges, in B&Bs or double share
with friends and relatives, make up about 10 times the number of people sleeping rough.
They are also without a home and in need of help.
Being homeless is more than about being without a roof over your head; it's
about a lack of security, lack of belonging, lack of privacy and lack of safety. The
experience of homelessness is arguably one of the grossest violations of human
rights in developed economies like Ireland.
Homelessness is not, and should never be accepted as, an inevitable outcome for
any person.
We believe that homelessness in Ireland can be ended. By an end to
homelessness we mean no one will have to sleep rough because of a lack of
appropriate services, no one will have to live in emergency accommodation
for longer than is an emergency, and no one will become homeless due to a
lack of services or inadequate housing provision.
