Twenty Years Changing Lives
21 September 2024
“I love it…it’s like, yeah, my hobby is living.
And that’s all from moving in here.”
Kieran.
The power of having somewhere to call home.
But it took a while for Kieran to get there.
“I was homeless a few times”, he says. “Life was a lot crazier. Every day was like being in a war zone with myself and with the world around me. I had no sense of security or calmness. Chaos just ensued every day”.
Content
Because of you and so many people like you, Kieran was able to leave that chaos behind and become more content. “I got a second life when I got this place through Simon – a life I never had all along. A sense of purpose, a sense of worth and security.”
That’s a huge transformation that couldn’t have happened without you.
After all, as part of a community throughout the South East that cares, that believes no one should be left without a roof over their head, you are family for so many men and women who have nowhere else to turn.
Family
“That’s built in to the culture of Simon”, is how Mary frames it. A former Chair of our voluntary Board of Directors, Mary believes that sense of family means “being there for people. Offering guidance and showing them the best path; helping people to be the person they want to be”.
Still the South East Simon way. After twenty years.
“We don’t give up on people. Simon doesn’t give up on people”, says Louise who, up until recently, was Waterford City and County Council’s homeless services lead.
Haven
“And that’s often striving towards getting people housed and”, she says,” what can sometimes be most challenging, getting the supports they need to remain housed.”
Helping people to get settled, to find their haven, their reason to start living again.
“Being settled, there’s continuity there”, says Martha – one of South East Simon’s Housing Officers.
But getting to that point of being settled, as Martha explains, doesn’t happen by accident: “We’d have people you’d think are doing really well…but there might be a situation, a memory, an anniversary or something and they’re almost right back where they started. We’d do everything we can to get them back on an even keel.”
Settled
Of course, Kieran knows this from his own experience. “It’s more than just walls and a roof”, he says. “Simon has my back. I’m able to journey through whatever the world throws at me knowing that I’ve got that security behind me. I’m now able to deal with the ups and downs of life in a level headed way without things spiralling out of control.”
Those “walls and a roof” are a starting point. As Martha puts it: “We all just want the tenancy to work, for the tenant to be truly settled – and stay settled for a long time. We don’t give up on them.”
Twenty years of never giving up.
“It’s what Simon is about”, Mary says. “We’re there for people; no judgement, just helping where we can.”
Louise has a similar take. “Quite often we’re working to support people who are so bogged down by the circumstances in their lives, that, understandably, they no longer find it easy to see a positive future”, she says. “We all work together to try and get people to the point where they see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
And from there, everything changes. Everything is possible.
Life-changing
Like it is for Kieran. He’s now working as a support worker for people on the ADHD spectrum and people with acquired brain injury. “I love it”, he says.
And Kieran no longer feels like he’s in a warzone with the world around him.
“I’m able to meet people, meet the neighbours and have a bit of banter with them. For the first time in my life, I can finally immerse myself in this lovely community, in the town where I live, as opposed to being an outsider.”
“That’s success”, says Louise. “It’s rewarding when you see people just develop before your eyes.”
Thank you for being part of so many success stories over the last twenty years. They couldn’t have happened without you.
Thank you for being part of a community that cares about homelessness, cares about the people experiencing homelessness; for being family.
“It’s such a change from living out of a rucksack”, says Kieran. “From walking the streets with no security for the night ahead; from having no future, no dream, no lust or zest for life or anything. I’m looking forward to the future now with great anticipation, expectation and excitement.”
Twenty years believing in people.
Life-changing
Kieran, Louise, Martha and Mary are among 20 people representing the thousands of men and women who, over the last 20 years, have made South East Simon the community it is today.
Twenty Faces for twenty years of South East Simon Community. Their words, their stories, our experience.