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	Just one in 10 homeless people in Dublin got the chance to move out of emergency accommodation and into a home last year, it has emerged.</p>
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	&ldquo;People have become trapped in the revolving door of homelessness,&rdquo; said Sam McGuinness, chief executive of the Dublin Simon Community.</p>
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	&ldquo;If we look at our emergency services for 2015, there was only a one in ten chance of moving out of emergency accommodation into a home.&rdquo;</p>
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	At the launch of the charity&rsquo;s 2015 report in Dublin yesterday, Mr McGuinness said 90% of its residents were deemed long-term homeless &mdash; without a home for longer than six months.</p>
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	Some 59% of people in emergency accommodation have been homeless for more than two years.</p>
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	Mr McGuinness said that rough sleeping across the city increased by almost a third (32%) over the past year, despite the provision of 195 extra emergency beds.</p>
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	The number of people bedding down outside for the night increased from 80 in August 2015 to 106 in August 2016.</p>
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	&ldquo;We are averaging at 150 so far in September, with the figure at 168 this morning,&rdquo; said Mr McGuinness yesterday.</p>
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	He noted that the number did not include the 60 people without a bed in the Merchants Quay Ireland night cafe.</p>
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	&ldquo;We are doing real work to keep people alive. The problem is we are not moving fast enough,&rdquo; said Mr McGuinness.</p>
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	He said that the number of rough sleepers recorded by the charity did not include those sleeping in public parks.</p>
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	Dublin Simon Community estimated around 25 people were sleeping rough in the Phoenix Park and between ten and 15 slept in St Stephen&rsquo;s Green. Some people also slept rough in the park in Merrion Square.</p>
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	Last year, the charity provided over 230,000 meals to individuals who were homeless. Every month, more than 150 people received housing assistance, harm reduction, and medical services by its team.</p>
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	Dublin Simon Community worked with 416 families across Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, and Meath to move them out of homelessness or to sustain their tenancy. This was a doubling of the number of families in a year.</p>
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	The charity&rsquo;s visiting tenancy support service, which operates in the Dublin City Council area, found that the number of people at risk of homelessness had increased by 21%. In 89% of cases, the charity succeeded in helping people avoid the trauma of homelessness.</p>
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	Housing Minister Simon Coveney said the response thus far had not been enough, but that the Government would get on top of the issue.</p>
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	Speaking on the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co Offaly, Mr Coveney said that the situation had been getting &ldquo;dramatically worse&rdquo;.</p>
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	However, while the number of families becoming homeless is still increasing, it has slowed down slightly.</p>
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	&ldquo;There is no shortage of ambition here in terms of responding to what is undoubtedly a really challenging problem,&rdquo; said Mr Coveney.</p>
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	Taoiseach Enda Kenny will launch the homeless pillar of the housing strategy tomorrow.</p>
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	&ldquo;We are going to get on top of this problem, but it&rsquo;s going to take time to do that,&rdquo; said Mr Coveney.</p>
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	&lsquo;I worried about my father when he was on the streets&rsquo;</p>
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	&mdash; Evelyn Ring</p>
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	Gerry fears he will die on the streets like his father. An alcoholic struggling to quit, he ended up like his dad &mdash; homeless.</p>
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	Despite relapsing recently, the staff and volunteers of the Simon Community continue to do everything they can to help him.</p>
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	&ldquo;Will I get this or will I die on the street like my father, like a drunk? How can I change?&rdquo; he wrote last year.</p>
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	Gerry had reached rock bottom &mdash; his life had become unmanageable, and his family had abandoned him.</p>
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	When Gerry relapsed, he was again admitted to the charity&rsquo;s residential alcohol detox unit at Ushers Island in Dublin.</p>
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	He began a recovery programme three weeks ago and is hopeful that he will finally get his life back on track.</p>
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	The programme helps individuals rebuild their lives through addressing their addictions as a barrier to exiting homelessness.</p>
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	The charity is planning to expand their facility in Ushers Island to provide additional post treatment beds.</p>
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	The waiting list for a bed in the detox unit increased from 27 days in 2014 to 31 last year, with only one in every 10 people completing a rehabilitation programme and moving to housing.</p>
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	Gerry feels he is in a very &ldquo;positive place&rdquo; again because the charity did not give up on him.</p>
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	A year ago, he wrote about doing &ldquo;the right thing&rdquo; &mdash; he no longer wanted to escape into a fantasy world of make believe and lies and despair.</p>
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	He recalled talking to his mother and daughter the first time he gave up drinking, they were delighted that the Simon Community were giving him the support he needed.</p>
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	&ldquo;How I used to worry about my father when he was on the streets, and every time I drink it is the same worry I put the people I love through,&rdquo; he said.</p>
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	But when the addiction gripped him he saw nothing but darkness &mdash; he just wanted to drink and forget and go deeper and deeper down to a place of destruction.</p>
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	The Simon Community wants to help Gerry discover who he is without alcohol; to be good to himself and to be kind to people around him.</p>
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	Last year, 70% of people starting the detox programme were homeless for more than six months, and 50% were homeless for more than two years.</p>
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	During the year the number people accessing the charity&rsquo;s treatment, recovery and counselling services increased by 31%.</p>
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<p>
	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 21st September 2016)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/just-one-in-10-dublin-homeless-housed-in-15-422023.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/just-one-in-10-dublin-homeless-housed-in-15-422023.html</a></p>
