I thought that with some help from those in the homeless sector and with grants and support from programs such as Social Entrepreneurs Ireland I could make my idea into a reality. I believed that with enough money, they would be able to do that. When I began my project, I really knew nothing about homelessness and I naively presumed that all the homeless charities were out there doing their best to end homelessness. The idea was called Invisible Angels and it was based on the Housing First solution. Once a person secured a home, money could be donated to provide any necessary aftercare supports they may need to get back on their feet. I also wanted people’s money to go towards a long-term solution for that person which would help lift them out of homelessness. I wanted people to be able to give to those experiencing homelessness and know exactly where their money was going. Any other expenses associated with the website would be covered by corporate sponsorship. They could then choose which person or family they wanted to donate money to and 100% of their donated money would go towards a rental deposit for a home for that person (roughly €1200 at the time). Members of the public could visit the website and watch these stories. My idea was to create a website to share the stories of people on the streets and in emergency accommodation. Background - An Invisible Dreamīack in March 2016 I came up with an idea which I believed could help get more people experiencing homelessness into homes. I plan to explain why this is the case and I will talk about what solutions will work and have worked in other cities across the globe. However, I feel obligated to inform people on how best they can help those experiencing homelessness and I must start by telling people that it is NOT by giving to the big homeless charities. Coming from a strong GAA background myself, I believe the communal strength of the GAA will have a huge influence on tackling issues such as homelessness. It’s now been two years since Pizza Sunday Club was founded and I was particularly delighted to see the Gaelic Voices for Change group recently being set up. I haven’t watched much of what is going on back at home but the one thing that I keep seeing is the number of people getting involved in trying to help those experiencing homelessness. IntroductionĪlthough I write these words from across the Atlantic, I hope they still hold significant importance to those who read them back in Ireland. In this article I provide the reasons why we need to stop putting our money into homeless charities, what needs to happen instead and how we as individuals can help.
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