Bringing hope to the homeless
This time of year can be particularly tough for those without a home. As charities continue their vital year-round work throughout the holiday season, Linda Stewart finds out more
NI charities continue their vital year-round work throughout holiday season
‘Sitting on the street watching people go past with bags of shopping is very isolating’
Iain Cameron (47), is manager of Extern’s Dual Diagnosis Street Team which delivers an intensive outreach support service to people who are homeless and rough sleeping.
This year the team provided a lifeline to 137 people in need and on Christmas Day will be on the streets of Belfast trying to help the homeless.
Iain explains: “DDST is a team of two social workers who are out and about on the streets daily engaging with people who have mental health problems, are homeless and may have drug and alcohol abuse problems.
“They would work from an assertive outreach model, going out and walking around as opposed to offering people appointments to come to us.
“The clients that engage with them have very complex issues and through their mental health issues they may be very nervous about engaging with the statutory agencies such as mental health or drug and alcohol services, so we’re bringing social work intervention out of the clients on the street.”
Iain says it’s particularly tough for those clients because of Covid.
“It was a very difficult time for these clients as normally they don’t have any friends or family support — they wouldn’t be going home,” he says.
“The biggest problem most of us are facing at the moment is whether to merge bubbles, but these guys don’t have any bubbles to merge — they’re on their own.
“If you’re sitting on the street watching people going past with bags of shopping and heading home to their families, it can be very isolating.”
Mental health problems can be exacerbated at this time of the year, with an increased reliance on drugs and alcohol, a tendency towards increased suicidal ideation and clients may also decide to discontinue their meds.
“They can go to such a low ebb that they may feel that life really isn’t worth living,” he says.
In the run-up to Christmas, the staff at Extern donated to buy presents which were brought to clients on the street
“Some of them will be sleeping in doorways, some have tents in areas of rough ground around the city,” he says. “Some are in hostels but they only sleep in the hostel at night — they come out in the daytime because they can’t be around other people.
“It’s important that our guys are out and about and making sure that the clients are able to connect with someone on Christmas Day. It’s a very quiet day and not many people are about, so it can be really tough.”
Iain says the team were all out and about for at least a few hours on Christmas Day last year.
“One of the social workers has children and she gave up some of her time to come and do that,” he says.
“I don’t have kids so it was less of a problem for me. I do have family to spend time with in the evening, but you give the day to come in and see the guys and make sure they are okay.
“They are extremely marginalised. They aren’t just homeless but they also have mental health issues that can make it almost impossible to speak and engage with other human beings at all.
“With some of them, our social workers have taken a year or 18 months to try to engage with someone before they will accept help and support. So it’s important that when you say you are going to come back, you will come back.”
Iain says that many of the clients have fallen through the gap between services — they have been told to sort out their mental health issues before they can access addiction services and vice versa.
“It’s almost impossible to figure out which came first — the mental health issue or the addiction issues,” he says.
At Christmas, people usually give generously to people on the streets, but this year could be particularly difficult because of Covid, he says.
“I would ask people to be thoughtful and generous and try to put themselves in their shoes and see how it is to be there,” he says.
“Christmas is a rough time for these guys and they have a past just like everybody else. They may be thinking about their mothers, their fathers, their children or their ex-partners, and the situation they’ve found themselves in.
“People don’t just end up in this state in a vacuum — like the rest of us, they’re thinking of family and past good times in their lives, but now they’re alone and vulnerable and at risk.”
Iain says that just buying a tea or coffee can make a difference to somebody’s day, or contacting the relevant services if you are concerned about someone.
“Literally that can make the difference between a really bad day and really brightening someone’s day up, just buying them something to eat or a cup of tea. Even saying hello to somebody — quite often they’re sitting on the street and they’re just ignored,” he says.
“If you’re being passed by thousands of people, and if nobody acknowledges your existence and you’re sitting in the gutter, that just reinforces that you’re not part of the world that is passing you by.”
‘The staff create a nice atmosphere on Christmas Day for the young people’
‘I would ask people to try to put themselves in their shoes’
Joanne Devlin (37) is project manager at the Simon Community’s Mount Street Mews in Coleraine, which provides accommodation for young
people aged 16 to 21 who are in temporary need of accommodation and works closely with the Northern Trust.
“We would have young people who may be in crisis and can’t live at home temporarily,” she says.
“When they come here, they are given a key worker who helps them to build up the skills to start living independently, helping them and supporting them with skills such as how to cook, budgeting their money, maintaining a tenancy, keeping the flat tidy and managing money.
“There could be a history of mental problems due to trauma that happened when they were younger and we will signpost them to agencies like Camhs.”
Each resident has their own self-contained flat, with a bedroom, bathroom and living room, surrounding a courtyard and incorporating a communal area.
“Some of them have previously been in care from a young age and can’t go home, or some have broken relationships with their family, so they may see the family during the day but staying overnight wouldn’t be an option.”
The key worker puts together a support plan for the young person that will help to prepare him or her for the next stage of their life and for living independently.
Joanne says it can take a while for new arrivals to settle in if they are nervous and unsure what to expect, but the project provides socially distanced activities such as cinema nights, outdoor gaming nights in the courtyard and Sunday lunches.
“Food always brings everybody together,” she says.
The pandemic has put an added strain on family relationships, she adds.
“Covid has definitely elevated the number of referrals that are coming through. Lockdown has definitely made or broken a lot of relationships and there are a lot of people struggling with it.
If you’re struck in a house with someone 24/7, it can either make or break a relationship — it can stress you being constantly in a space with somebody else.”
Joanne says they have tried to make Christmas as much like a home Christmas as possible,
“We had received some funding from the council for the homeless so we had bought them their own individual presents — Christmas pyjamas for the girls, chocolate, stocking fillers and vouchers from Amazon and local businesses,” she says.
“We have two staff members who have asked if they can be here on Christmas Day — Ivan, who would do the main dinners, and Chelsea, who would do desserts.
“Some of the clients do struggle at Christmas — I would be lying if I said they don’t struggle. But knowing there are staff here who care and are trying to elevate their spirits, that makes an impact on them.”
Last year, Joanne says, one of the clients was nervous about taking part in a play, so the project organised a bus to bring the residents and staff to cheer her on, followed by a stop-off for fish and chips.
“They got to support one of the clients who was stressing out about the play — it was a night to remember and everybody enjoyed themselves,” Joanne says.
“You’re not at home, but it’s trying to make the best experience possible for young people coming in.
“The staff were happy to be here on Christmas Day — they were prepping on Christmas Eve and they love sitting down afterwards with the young people and watching a bit of TV, doing what normal households are doing on Christmas Day.
“It’s just a nice atmosphere and it’s nice when the young people have moved onto their own tenancies and they keep in touch and talk about what they’re doing now. It’s nice to break the cycle and not go into a generic hostel.”
Stevie (19, surname withheld), from Ballymena, has been living in the Mount Street Mews project since September.
“I was living with my brother down in Ballymena, but the place was getting a bit overcrowded and he had two kids coming, so I wouldn’t have been able to stay there much longer,” he says.
“I had to find somewhere else to go and I was offered a few places up in Belfast. One of my other brothers had passed away in a hostel and they offered me a place there but because of that I had to turn it down.”
Stevie admits he was anxious about moving into a hostel.
“I didn’t like the idea of going into a hostel and I was panicking at the start,” he says.
However, after contacting his social worker he was offered a place in Mount Street Mews, moved there in September and is enjoying it.
“I’d heard good reviews about it from other young people that had stayed in the past,” he says.
“I enjoy it — I’ve got my own flat with a bathroom and bedroom and it’s all furnished.
“Some of the others have their on and off days, but the staff are always there being nice. I’m looking forward to going down to see my brother and my two nephews at Christmas.”
‘I didn’t like the idea of going into a hostel and I was panicking’