“Everything he owned was there and burned with it. He watched, helpless, as it burned, and all he could hear was the teenagers laughing.”
A couple of weeks ago, one of our clients had his tent set on fire by a group of teenagers. His tent was his home and having been moved on from several different spots he had settled in a city park. Everything he owned in the world was in that tent, folders full of essential documents: passport and birth certificate, the birth certificates for his children, bank account details and correspondence with Dublin City Council. Everything he owned was there and burned with it. He watched, helpless, as it burned, and all he could hear was the teenagers laughing.
Sadly, this is not that unusual. It has happened to at least three others – that we know of – this last month. There have been other, less fortunate clients in the past who were set on fire while wrapped in their sleeping bags. Being a full time volunteer with the Dublin Simon Community’s Rough Sleeper Team, I experience first-hand the suffering people are facing on our streets, and work with the team to be there for people in whatever way we can and help them overcome the trauma they have faced.
A volunteer’s day
“We take on part-time volunteers three times per year, and the next intake will be in January. Our part-time volunteers are the ones who operate our Soup Run, 365 nights a year in all weathers, our Social Club, which takes place on Monday and Wednesday evenings, our two charity shops, and some of our services.”
My day-to-day routine varies greatly. As the name implies, the Rough Sleeper Team works directly with people living on the streets, as well as those who are in emergency and temporary accommodation. The unique nature of the work and the clients means shifts vary in their start time. A 6am start involves travelling around the city, either on foot or in our van, conducting an on-street count of the people who are bedded down. These statistics are collected and collated by us to keep the public informed of the situation.
Most shifts begin at 8am, and our tasks change from each day contingent on the needs of our clients. We regularly visit emergency accommodation shelters, helping the clients to fill out forms, bringing them to one of our shops for clothing or organising appointments with their doctor or any public department.
About every six months, the Department of Social Protection require rough sleepers to provide a letter from a homeless organisation confirming they are still sleeping rough. Depending on where these people are bedding down, we could have to drive out to any part of Dublin County to confirm they are indeed sleeping rough. We then write a letter confirming this, which the client brings to their social welfare office. We also help clients fill out medical card forms, and have the cards sent to our office if they have no address to which they could alternatively be sent. Clients who have alcohol or drug dependency issues can come to access alcohol detox and drug rehabilitation services. The Dublin Simon Community has an alcohol detox unit which we refer clients into, and priority is given to the rough sleepers referred by us.
In the evenings, we provide harm reduction services such as giving free, clean needles to intravenous drug users. This service helps to reduce the spread of HIV, Hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases, and is also an opportunity for us to link clients in with other support services they may need
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights we run a Mobile Health Unit in partnership with Safetynet, a converted van with a consultation and treatment room which carries two doctors around the city, providing medical attention and GP care to any person who is experiencing homelessness and wants to avail of it.
How I got involved
“I feel my volunteering is a continuation of one of those [College] traditions, because it was students of Trinity and UCD who founded the Dublin Simon Community in 1969.”
I first learned about Dublin Simon Community from a friend who volunteered with them full time for a year. Listening to his stories provided insight into what the job involved, and what I would learn and gain from it. Another friend moved to Dublin to volunteer full-time which caused me to consider it more seriously. I started with the Rough Sleeper Team in September, at the same time I started my part time postgraduate course in Trinity. Attending classes and getting involved with societies has been a great way to wind down from my volunteering work. For a few hours every week it is great to immerse myself in a world where people are, by-and-large, carefree and happy.
As we know, Trinity is an extremely old institution, and I’ve come to learn many of the traditions, stories and myths associated with it. And in many ways I feel my volunteering is a continuation of one of those traditions, because it was students of Trinity and UCD who founded the Dublin Simon Community in 1969. Putting aside their infamous – if ultimately good-natured – rivalry, the students of the two universities came together to provide soup and sandwiches to rough sleepers in the city centre.
From those modest beginnings the Dublin Simon Community has grown to a very diverse and dynamic organisation working across Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath providing a wide range of services such as outreach, treatment, housing, homelessness prevention and education. The Soup Run is still running, going out every night of the year including Christmas Day. Along the Social Club it is fully manned and staffed by part time volunteers. They are fantastically committed and enthusiastic individuals. Most commit to one night a week, and many have been volunteering part time for years. At least one of them has been volunteering once a week for nine years.
Getting involved
When I first got involved, I held many assumptions about how and why people become homeless, or become addicted to drugs. Through working with clients, talking to them and hearing their stories, I realised that these assumptions were all wrong and ill-founded.
Alongside the Soup Run and the Social Club, part time volunteers help out in many other areas in the Dublin Simon Community. Some organise group activities for the clients in our treatment services. Part time volunteers also help run our charity shops on Camden Street and Thomas Street. The Simon Community also look for part time volunteers to run classes for our clients, in reading, writing, literacy and numeracy, and also in any other area of expertise.
“We often look for specific skills like literacy teaching or yoga,” says Jason Flynn, the Dublin Simon Community part time volunteer co-ordinator. “So we’re always delighted to hear from anyone who has the expertise and the time to devote a couple of hours per week.”
“We take on part-time volunteers three times per year, and the next intake will be in January. Our part-time volunteers are the ones who operate our Soup Run, 365 nights a year in all weathers, our Social Club, which takes place on Monday and Wednesday evenings, our two charity shops, and some of our services.”
I have worked alongside part time volunteers during my time with the Rough Sleeper Team, and have always found them to be very friendly and enthusiastic. Jason told me what he and the volunteer office look for when assessing potential part time volunteers.
“It’s nice when volunteers come to us very eager and motivated to make a change and to help ‘fix’ the homelessness crisis, but a more realistic attitude is occasionally necessary – we can’t give everyone a home right now, but we can take small steps towards helping people in whatever way we can and help them along the path to securing a home in the future.”
“Therefore, it’s important that volunteers understand that we can only do so much, and don’t get disillusioned and feel that we’re not doing enough to help. The best thing about the services we offer is our consistency, so the biggest favour a volunteer can do for us is to only commit when they know they can be reliable and show up regularly.”
As a full time volunteer, I have had some enlightening and life-altering experiences. It is far and away the most fulfilling and interesting work I’ve ever done. When I first got involved, I held many assumptions about how and why people become homeless, or become addicted to drugs. Through working with clients, talking to them and hearing their stories, I realised that these assumptions were all wrong and ill-founded. I have developed so much as a person, and my life has been changed for the better. Jason told me it is the same for part time volunteers.
“The volunteers who get the most out of their experience with us are the ones who understand that their one evening per week might only represent a very small contribution in the greater scheme of things, but that we deliver more than a cup of soup or a sandwich, or a sleeping bag on a cold night; our volunteers bring warmth and humanity to people when they’re at their most vulnerable, and that’s sometimes what makes the biggest difference. That’s what gives people the greatest sense of satisfaction.”
We’re hoping to get more people involved, because the work is both deeply necessary and deeply rewarding, by organising an information night with Enactus TCD. If this sounds like something that may interest you, follow the Enactus TCD, SUAS Trinity or Trinity Global Development Society Facebook pages.
