Feeding our homeless this Christmas

“The need for food late at night, when it’s cold, wet and miserable is in high demand”, Natasha Morgan, co-founder of Feed Our Homeless charity in Dublin says, “but at Christmas that demand grows even greater.” With almost 700,000 people in food deprivation, 164,000 of those children, Natasha is determined to help as many people as she can have a happy Christmas.

Established in 2017, the organisation is dedicated to making a difference to the lives of people who are affected by homelessness and those who are most marginalised in society.

Natasha grew up in care in Dublin’s inner city and has seen firsthand the impact drugs and alcohol abuse can have on people. Having travelled and worked in different roles within the financial and hospitality sector, Natasha went on to study for a diploma in Community Drug and Alcohol Work, followed by a degree in Social Sciences, at University College Dublin. During her time studying, she also started Feed Our Homeless, using her own personal experience and the knowledge gained from her studies to build and grow the charity to help as many people as possible.

The Christmas period is always busy for the charity with around 395 families registered, equating to 1449 people who receive food parcels. “That number is growing on a weekly basis. Those using this service varies – from working families, to single parents to individuals. With inflation, people just simply cannot afford to pay household bills and to keep food on their table. I do expect that number to increase dramatically over the Christmas period,” she says.

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“In addition to the normal food parcels, we try and give every family the Christmas extras, so a pudding, Christmas cake and festive goodies for the children. The past few Christmases we have been in a position to give every family that needed it turkey and ham, some families got new toys for stocking fillers and also some new clothes. These were all possible through donations we received. Our aim is to try and not let a family go hungry for Christmas, [or] a child to feel less than their friends. We never want a child to go hungry or without, especially at Christmas,” she says.

Working at the outreach service is always emotional, but especially at Christmas, Natasha says. “It’s about family and for those who find themselves on the streets at Christmas, I’m sure that’s what they think about.”

“Through our annual Christmas gift bag appeal, we’re in a position to give every homeless person our team engages with some presents and a selection box. Most importantly, we keep them company on what is probably the hardest day and night of the year for them. We show someone cares and is there for them. We’ve laughed and we’ve often cried with them,” she says.

With lived experiences of poverty, Natasha and co-founder Tony Walsh understand the daily struggles people can face. The original name chosen, Feed Our Homeless, isn’t really accurate anymore because at the heart of what they do is encourage people to regain agency in their lives and once again become productive in society.

Set up to address the initial homeless crisis and food poverty they wanted to support rough sleepers who found themselves in doorways with nowhere to go and to try and get them into suitable accommodation for the night. “The majority of rough sleepers don’t have access to a phone, so they relied on us or other soup kitchens and outreach groups to make a call on their behalf to try and get them a bed for the night. We both had family who were homeless and addicts and Tony is in recovery, so it was a natural ‘calling’, she says.

“It wasn’t my ambition to set up a charity, it just grew through demand and listening to service users and what their needs were. When we operated the soup kitchen, we noticed families coming to us with children who had homes or were in emergency accommodation, but food wasn’t provided. We had lads working in construction coming with lunchboxes, getting food for their lunch the next day. Elderly pensioners coming for food because they couldn’t afford to live on what income they had and also rough sleepers who were either going back to a tent or they were in accommodation which didn’t provide food,” she adds.

The soup kitchen addressed one aspect of the problem, but it didn’t address the underlying issues as to why they were coming. A food bank was the next step for the charity, along with an advocacy service.

“The lack of understanding for families and their struggles is horrifying, I knew I had to do something to help,” she says.

To date through the family provision service, the charity has supported individuals in to addiction services, adult education, back-to-work schemes, training, or helped with childcare forms, medical cards, maintenance issues, HAP, to name a few.

“The numbers on the outreach are on average 80 to 100 people per night, but that’s service users we know of, those who are regulars and who call in. I’m sure there are plenty out there we are unaware of.

“Our aim is always to work with service users to help them come off the streets and if they won’t go to hostels, we’ll try figure out why and then advocate for them. The rental market is oversaturated, singles are priced out of it so there’s nowhere for them to go besides reverting to homelessness as they have no other option,” she says.

They have also noticed an increase in hidden homeless. Individuals who are technically homeless but aren’t counted as such because they have a sofa to sleep on. The problem is growing and Natasha’s charity is more important than ever to service users, she says.

“Last week a guy said to one of the volunteers, it was like winning the lottery when he gave him clean socks and underwear, which put a lot of things in perspective for me,” Natasha says.

To give to Feed Our Homeless visit www.idonate.ie/cause/feedourhomeless