Appeal to help Simon in sleep out
IF you are thinking about helping to make a difference to the homesless crisis, why not Sleep out for Simon?
Details of this Year’s annual Sligo Street Sleep in aid of North West Simon Community have just been released. The charity sleep out on O’Connell Street will be on Friday 6th Oct as part of Simon Week nationally.
Spokeswoman Mary McKeon appealed to anyone interested to please sign up.
She told The Sligo Champion: “As Fundraiser with North West Simon, your local Simon Community that provides housing and support services to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, I’m reaching out in the hope that you might volunteer to take part in this year’s street sleep to raise vital awareness and funds for the charity, or you may know someone who would like to take part this year so please let them know.”
Mary stressed: “There’s no denying the urgency of the current housing situation, or the dramatic increase in the demand for our services. It really is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. In particular, we are encountering an alarming number of families and single women who can’t afford the current market rents and as a result are being forced out of their homes.
“To put the crisis into perspective, more and more women and families are presenting to us for support, many people just one pay cheque away from being homeless in our local area.”
Mary explained: “While Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal does not have a visible rough sleeping population, it is dealing with the phenomenon of “hidden homelessness” with many people stranded in inadequate or emergency accommodation as a result of a lack of move on facilities.”
On the positive side, Mary said: “The good news is in 2016, thanks to early intervention we prevented 186 households from becoming homeless in this area.
“Instead of having to access emergency accommodation or sleep on the streets, our Outreach Workers helped these families and individuals to remain in their own homes, and to continue to live as part of our local community.”