Cork Simon Community

Director's Report

Our Director, Dr. Dermot Kavanagh, speaks about the challenges and achievements of 2019 and our collective response in 2020 to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chair's Report

Eoin MacCuirc, Chair of our voluntary Board of Directors, highlights the importance of housing and of working together, most especially in the time of Covid-19.

JJ's Story

After 20 years of homelessness, JJ is now living independently in a flat, with support from Cork Simon. He speaks about his life, now and then.

Our Impact

1,088

men and women supported across all of our services

52 people housed in independent or supported housing.

68 people supported into addiction treatment and aftercare.

11,467

hot meals served at our Soup Run

people supported into employment.

Emergency Supports

More people than ever turned to our Homeless Emergency Support Services for shelter, care and support in 2019.

Our Emergency Shelter and Nightlight supported:

456 people

throughout 2019 - 7% more than in 2018.

The number of people long-term homeless in our emergency accommodation increased by 19% in 2019.

However, by year end we had supported over a quarter of people stuck long-term in our shelter into safe and affordable, independent and supported housing.

Between our Emergency Shelter and Nightlight, an average of

61 people per night

relied on Cork Simon emergency accommodation in 2019.

Housing and Support

More people than ever were supported by our Housing and Support Services. Working to a Housing First philosophy, this service supports people to move from homelessness to secure and appropriate housing, and through tailored supports helps people to maintain their homes and work towards fulfilling their goals.

Our Housing and Support Services supported:

232 people

throughout 2019 - 25% more than in 2018.

52 people – effectively one person every week - moved to secure and affordable, independent and supported housing in 2019 – 21% more than in 2018.

86% moved to Cork Simon owned or managed housing.

85 %

of people who moved to housing in 2019 were still in their homes at year end with assistance from our Housing and Support Services.

"I was in shock really for a month. I think safe is most got to do with it. Knowing that this is yours and you can leave anything you want around the place and you come back and it’s still there. It’s just knowing that you have that safety.

Having independence; I can have my own shower, when I want; I can have my own peace and quiet; I can have my own sanity.

That’s a great security in someone’s life. I know everybody can’t get it at the moment, but everybody should have it."

Rose* speaks about the difference that secure, affordable, independent housing has made to her life (*name changed).

9 new homes and 8 more underway.

We increased our housing stock by a further nine flats in 2019 – five through direct purchase and four via an agreement with Cooperative Housing Ireland. These homes enabled nine more people to move from emergency accommodation to safe and affordable housing and to start re-building their lives.

Renovation work began at St. Joachim and Anne’s to sensitively convert this listed building into eight independent living flats for people who are homeless.

Campaigning

We launched A Working Life, our longitudinal research series exploring the experiences of people returning to work and rebuilding their lives with support from our Employment and Training Team.

Our inaugural Write For Home schools writing competition received over 200 entries from across Munster.

We hosted The Way Home – Best Practice in Homeless Prevention and Housing Provision with contributions from Housing First expert, Hilary Melton of Pathways Vermont and from Professor Nicholas Pleace of University of York.

In partnership with the Simon Communities in Ireland, we continued to conduct Locked Out of the Market studies which reflect the challenges people using our services face when trying to find an affordable home.

We visited 75 secondary schools and colleges in 2019, supporting

3,140

students

to understand the causes of and be part of the solutions to homelessness.

Personal Development

Our Activities Programme and Employment and Training Programme are an integral part of the services offered at Cork Simon to support people to develop their skills and confidence, reach their goals and find sustainable pathways out of homelessness.

244 people took part in 1,104 group and individual activities during 2019. Activities help to build skills and confidence, and are often a stepping-stone to training and education.

45 people entered employment during 2019, with support from the Employment and Training Team.

Volunteers & Donors

We are a community of like-minded people working together to support the most vulnerable in our society. We are deeply grateful to our donors, volunteers and supporters for their commitment, care and generosity.

907 part-time volunteers and 39 full-time volunteers from 11 different countries gave generously of their time and skills during 2019.

16,042 kind-hearted and committed donors, donated €4.8 million in support of our work.

Thank you for your support - thank you for believing in people.

Come On In

As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2021, we were delighted in 2019 to publish Come On In: A History of Cork Simon Community.

Written by Monica McNamara, the book offers insight into everyday life in our original shelter, which operated from 1971 to 1996, with evocative portraits of the men and women who stayed there.

Come On In also captures the opening of the Anderson’s Quay complex in 1996 and explores the changing nature of Cork Simon over the decades in response to the needs of the people we serve.