Posted by ‘It’s the rough sleepers that break my heart the most’ – homeless campaigner had to make long journey to get vital supplies
A HOMELESS campaigner has revealed how she had to travel to Northern Ireland to source vital supplies for people sleeping rough in Dublin.
Community activist Theresa Kelly, from Edenmore, claimed she found it “impossible” to purchase items such as bivvy bags (similar to sleeping bags) in Dublin, forcing her to make a trip to Newry over the weekend.
Ms Kelly, who has been helping rough sleepers for 12 years, told Independent.ie she felt she also got better value in the North and is planning another cross-border trip in the coming weeks.
“We originally put out an appeal on social media for sleeping bags and ground mats,” she said.
“The reaction from local communities in Edenmore, Coolock, Donaghmede and Raheny was just incredible – two women donated 12 brand new sleeping bags each.
“In the space of two days, we had had received 30 sleeping bags. Other people put money in an envelope and told us to buy whatever was needed, but we found it difficult to get some of the products down here. I rang every shop in Dublin trying to find bivvy bags.”
Yesterday, Ms Kelly was driven to the Trespass store in Newry by Dublin City councillor Tom Brabazon, where she spent several hundred euro on bivvy bags, heavy-duty ponchos, handwarmers and hot water bottles.
“The staff up there were lovely and went out of their way to help when they heard what we were doing,” she said.
“We got a good discount on the bivvy bags and other products, such as the handwarmers, were already reduced in price. I’ll be going back there again in two weeks.”
Ms Kelly and other volunteers engage with rough sleepers in Dublin at least twice a week and even more regularly during periods of bad weather.
“We start at O’Connell Street and work our way down Henry Street, Moore Street and Talbot Street, including all the back lanes, down as far as Connolly Station,” she said.
“Our immediate priority is to try to persuade people to go to a hostel, so we call the intake teams for them.
“We try to find out why they’re on the streets and why they won’t go to hostels. Sometimes we have to make two or three visits before they’ll trust us. We had great success two weeks ago when we got eight people off the streets in one night.
“We only give out items like sleeping bags as a last resort. If they refuse to go to a hostel, we need to know they have all the stuff they need to stay safe on the streets.”
She added: “Of all the people who are homeless, it’s the rough sleepers that break my heart the most. It’s so sad to look at them, knowing that you’re leaving them and going home to a warm house and warm bed.”
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