“Homelessness nearly destroyed us. Now it’s happening all over again.”
That’s what Ruth, a young mother of two, said when she contacted us a few weeks ago. In a few weeks, Ruth and her two small children will be made homeless.
But the shocking thing is that this is not the first time Ruth’s family have been made homeless.
“The rent is going up again. There is no way we can afford it. I get so upset that I can’t function. I have lost a stone in the last month. We were homeless once before. Five years ago. When you’ve seen your children get hurt like that and you think it’s going to happen again, it’s terrifying.”
But this is the reality. This is the nightmare that hundreds of families like Ruth’s are facing right now.
As we talked tears were streaming down Ruth’s face. Her little baby Ben, who is just two years old, was sitting on her knee watching her. He didn’t understand why mammy was crying.
This is how Ruth reached out to Focus Ireland for help.
Every day we get to work with incredible people like Ruth who have been made homeless through absolutely no fault of their own. The way they fight against all the odds to protect and provide for their children is an inspiration.
But when I see what their children have to go through, when you see the impact it has on them, I am filled with one thought – Homelessness is wrong. No family should ever have to live through this level of stress and fear.
All through the year we have seen a steady increase in the number of families reaching out to Focus Ireland for help.
Homelessness has risen by 30% in the last year alone. And now, one of our greatest fears is that the availability of emergency accommodation is running out as well.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can’t allow this to become the new normal
"I do everything for my kids. I go to work. I give them everything. The only thing I can’t give them is a home. And the one thing a human shouldn’t be deprived of is a home."
There is something that you can do to help.
Something immediate and practical that will help protect families like Ruth’s and enable them to find a home of their own again as quickly as possible.
Most importantly, with your help, we can promise families like Ruth’s that we will always be there to help, day after day, for however long it takes until they get back to the safety of a home of their own.
A gift from you today will ensure that families like Ruth and her children receive the vital supports from the moment they become homeless.