Number sleeping rough in Cork ‘up 358%’ in two years

The number of people turning to Cork Simon after becoming homeless reached its highest level in five years in 2013 with the number of people sleeping rough on the streets of the city rising to 174.

The charity's annual report, due to be launched Friday by Tánaiste Joan Burton, says that some 1,187 people sought support from Cork Simon in 2013, a 16 per cent increase on the number using the services a year earlier.

The report highlights an 11 per cent increase in the number of people staying at Cork Simon’s emergency shelter in 2013 and a 29 per cent increase in the numbers availing of its soup run service.

Its housing support team saw the number of people they assist increase by 30 per cent last year while the outreach team, which works with those sleeping rough, supported 33 per cent more people in 2013 than in 2012.

Cork Simon director Dermot Kavanagh explained that towards the end of 2012, the charity temporarily increased the number of beds in its emergency shelter by 10 per cent in response to a significant increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the city.

“We had to maintain this extra capacity throughout 2013 as the number of people sleeping rough continued to rise. As a result, our emergency shelter was over-occupied every night throughout 2013, peaking at an occupancy rate of 114 per cent in May and August,” he said.

Mr Kavanagh said that while the number of people sleeping rough in Cork may have increased by less than 10 per cent in 2013 over 2012 figures, having 174 people sleeping rough on the streets of Cork last year, marked a staggering increase of 358 per cent compared to 2011.

“Last year, we dealt with an average of four new people every week coming to our emergency shelter and we had a fourfold increase in rough sleeping compared to 2011 ....unfortunately people ended up sleeping on the streets because they had nowhere to go,” he said.

“One of the key reasons that we have seen such a big increase in homelessness is that we now have a housing crisis in Cork city as across the country- rents have been rising, by 6 per cent increase last year while the number of properties available to rent has declined substantially.”

Mr Kavanagh noted Cork Simon’s experience in working with people with addiction issues and pointed out that the number of people with serious drug issues it works with has doubled over the last two years but it has specialist services for such clients.

“While we have been under more pressure than ever before, I have to say the services we provide are effective and are working - no fewer than 50 per cent of the people who come to our shelter for help are assisted out of homelessness within a week and 70 per cent within a month.”

Mr Kavanagh paid tribute to Cork Simon's volunteers and staff for their tremendous work while he also thanked its partners in the HSE and Cork City Council for their support and he also thanked the public for their continued support and donations throughout the recession.