According to Simon Communities of Ireland, thousands of people in Ireland are affected by hidden homelessness, yet those who are experiencing it “remain unseen” by conventional assistance agencies.
According to the network of homeless organisations, those who are “couch-surfing,” lodging in cramped quarters, or residing in shaky, transient housing are the main causes of the situation.
The Simon Communities of Ireland organised an event in Limerick to raise awareness of the challenges encountered by people and families who live in “precarious” housing conditions without access to the help they need. The event was organised in collaboration with Mid-West Simon, which serves the regions of Clare, Limerick, and North Tipperary.
Earlier this year, 30,000 homes on the island of Ireland are affected by hidden homelessness, according to a joint research by Simon Communities of Ireland and Simon Community NI.
Executive Director of Simon Communities of Ireland, Wayne Stanley, said: “Hidden homelessness is a critical issue that does not get the attention it deserves. These are people who fall through the cracks of our system—living in unstable, insecure conditions, often without knowing where they’ll be sleeping tomorrow. We need to start acknowledging their existence and implementing solutions that will bring them out of the shadows and into safety,” reports Breaking News.
“We recognise hidden homelessness as a significant aspect of the housing crisis. We hope that by highlighting the issue during Simon Week, we can drive real change and bring hidden homelessness to the forefront of housing policy discussions,” reports Breaking News.
According to Lorcan Byrne, a lecturer at the Technological University of the Shannon, hidden homelessness is a significant and poorly known aspect of the present housing problem.
According to him, policymakers and practitioners ought to be inspired by the most recent Simon Communities study to reconsider the present service delivery paradigm and shift from a reactive to a proactive strategy.
“The providers of emergency accommodation witness daily the impacts of hidden homelessness on those entering homeless services, where extreme precarity and exposure to chronic stress has already undermined their health and well-being, this is before they have had any opportunity to benefit from current service provision,” he said, reports Breaking News.
“The issue of hidden homelessness ought to be at the forefront of discussion about the provision of services to homeless people, however ultimately this report highlights newer depths to the housing crisis, and that housing policy needs to provide adequate, affordable, and appropriate housing urgently,” reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
