Homeless families: ‘Often they have nowhere to go after 5pm’

The number of emergency rooms that had to be booked for homeless families who by late evening have nowhere to sleep has almost doubled since the start of the year.

Focus Ireland in response has opened a new evening service for homeless families in Dublin who do not know where they will sleep until late at night. It plans to significantly expand the service.

Located at the charity’s Dublin city centre coffee-shop, it a “place of safety” for families where they can get a meal, advice and access to play facilities while trying to find emergency accommodation.

Figures seen by The Irish Times show in January Focus Ireland made 671 emergency bookings for families with nowhere to go by the evening. By May this had risen to 1,308 bookings.

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Currently by 6pm about 50 families still do not know where they will sleep. These are some of the several hundred who must “self-accommodate” each night or who are entitled to a room on only a nightly basis.

Staff spend hours trying to get them into hotels or B&Bs. When unsuccessful they refer families to Garda stations. In April this happened 46 times and in May 47.

While the new facility, which is open between 5.30pm and 9pm, can accommodate about five families an evening, Focus Ireland plans to increase this up to 20 and higher if needed in a larger facility in winter.

John O’Hair, service manager, says that some homeless families asked to “self-accommodate” struggle navigating that system.

“There are others who, for whatever reason, the local authority doesn’t accept as officially homeless, but will, for humanitarian reasons, pay for a room for a night. The reality is many are accessing emergency accommodation on that basis, night after night, for months.

“Often they have nowhere to go after 5pm. They don’t want to go to other homeless shelters where there can be adults under the influence of drugs or alcohol. So they are sitting in bus stations, fast-food restaurants, struggling to do homework. This service means we can now say, ‘come in here, feed the kids and we’ll help’.”

Vulnerable

Thursday evening at 7pm finds five families, including 15 very young children, at tables, eating chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables. In the warm weather, says O’Hair, many families are happy to wait at parks and playgrounds. So those here this evening are the particularly vulnerable.

Among them Dufu Bogden (27) is with his wife and four children – aged three months to three years (including twin daughters aged three). The Roma family are in Ireland since last year. Asked why they came, Dufu looks at his children. "Here they can have a life. No discrimination. School. In Romania there is no life for Roma."

He is a mechanic, he says, can “fix cars” and needs a job “urgent”.

“It is very difficult when you get sleep for children at 9pm, then must leave at 8am. The children tired, crying. When things more stable I get work.”

As we speak one of the children falls to the floor exhausted.

Child and family case workers are here to support the families. Upstairs four staff man phones – taking calls from families with still nowhere to sleep, while calling hotels and B&Bs looking for rooms.

A white board on the wall lists 47 families, with their name and family size. Beside each is a facility they have been provisionally booked into. Staff are waiting for the go-ahead from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive to confirm the bookings. They will then call the families to tell them where to go.

One takes a call from a mother named “Daisy”, clearly anxious about when she will know where to bring her children for the night.

“We’re looking at probably between 7pm and 7.30pm,” she is told. “Daisy, I know usually you are in somewhere around this time. We have to wait for the council to confirm the bookings. Once they’re confirmed we contact you. We’re contacting between 50 and 60 families. That does take time, and my apologies for that, but I will call you as soon as we get confirmation...Stay close to your phone.”

Mothers

Other calls come in, mainly from mothers. Among their names: Noreen, Laura and Mirella.

The service is funded by Tusla. Its chief executive, Fred McBride, said the agency was committed to “helping families through tough times”.

“Being without a home was one of the toughest challenges any family could face.”

The latest figures for May show there were 1,338 families, including 2,886 children, in emergency accommodation in Dublin. This compares with 1,099 families, with 2,266 children, in May 2017 – a 21 per cent increase in families and a 27 per cent increase in children.