“I’m sorry, I can’t do this anymore. Why can’t we just go home?” – Mia, aged 8
Read more about Mia and her families story below.
Mia was 8 years old when her family was evicted from their home. For the next ten months, Mia’s parents had to raise Mia, her younger autistic brother, and her newborn baby sister while living in a hotel room.
“We had one bed and two bunk beds between the five of us. But nobody slept. At first my kids got sick all the time. My baby daughter lost so much weight. The kids were surrounded by so much stress and noise they were frightened all the time.”
Kate, Mia’s Mum
“She’s a little angel. Whenever she saw me upset she’d do something to try and make me laugh. But you could see it was hurting her. She was so sad all the time. It broke my heart to see her like that”
Kate, mother of Mia, Oisin and Molly.“She’s nearly a year old now. But I haven’t heard her laugh in months. That’s what homelessness is doing to her.”
Kate, mother of Mia, Oisin and Molly“We used to have a garden but there is no space here. I take the kids out to the park but when I tell him we have to come back here he has a meltdown. He just doesn’t want to be here”
Kate, mother of Mia, Oisin and MollyThe greatest gift you can give a child this Christmas is a home. Please give what you can so that Focus Ireland can help more families like Mia’s escape homelessness.
All across the country, throughout our services and centres, we are seeing a substantial rise in the number of families being made homeless and an increase in the length of time some families are being forced to remain in emergency accommodation.
These families cannot wait for long-term housing solutions. They need our help now. And you have a critical role to play.
Because the more people that stand with us and the more funds we raise, the more people we can reach, the more children we can protect and the more families we can help find a safe and secure home.
