Simon initiative aims to break the homelessness cycle

Peadar is a familiar figure in Galway who lived under a bridge. For a year the former public servant slept on the river bank, using blankets and boxes to keep himself warm. There were many theories as to what had happened to him; some said he had been disappointed in love.

He let everything slip - his home, his job, his car, his dignity. He became a recluse. Only very hesitantly did he approach the Simon Community for help. By then he was a statistic, as one of 500 homeless on Galway's streets.

Now Peadar (not his real name) is one of Galway Simon's success stories. He has agreed to be resettled in transitional accommodation where he can learn a new skill and draw on discreet support. He has started to take pride in himself and in his appearance again. Word has it that he has even made contact with his family.

Located at the Waterworks House on Dyke Road, Simon's resettlement initiative has been developed in partnership with Galway Corporation and the Western Health Board. The project is designed to offer long-term single homeless people the sort of assistance they need to live independently in a home of their own. It is modelled on initiatives in London, and aims to break the cycle of movement between the street, emergency shelters, Garda stations and hospital psychiatric units, according to Mr Padraic Kenna, Simon's director in Galway.

He returned to Galway recently after 16 years in Britain, where he had worked with various housing associations and boroughs. A graduate in law and social policy, he returned to a different, and perhaps less caring, Ireland where there is no national policy on homelessness and local authorities have tended to adopt a minimalist approach.

It seemed as if little had changed since the early 1980s when Galway Simon had a running clash with the Western Health Board over efforts to provide a temporary shelter for homeless men on the city's Fair Green. Residents also appealed against the decision to give planning permission for the shelter, and Bishop Eamonn Casey was less than supportive, he recalls.

"No local authority here wants to acknowledge homelessness as a reality, because it sees it as a bad reflection on its work," Mr Kenna comments. Most county councils are loath to take action for fear of attracting the homeless from elsewhere. He believes the obvious solution lies in extending the Government's Dublin-based Homeless Initiative to every county in the State.

Mr Kenna and colleagues convinced Galway Corporation this year to fund the resettlement project in Waterworks House, with finance from the Department of the Environment. A further four bedrooms and extra facilities are being added, along with wheelchair access and a ground-floor room suitable for people with a disability. The accommodation will complement the long-term supported housing run by Simon at Lough Atalia Road, while the organisation is also working with Galway Voluntary Social Services to develop the Fair Green shelter.

The new project is not a magic solution, Mr Kenna warns. He believes there is an urgent need for a "high support" initiative for long-term homeless street drinkers and those with mental health problems, particularly as the average age of young men on the street is dropping to 30. Last week, at the official launch in Galway, Simon secured what it regards as a firm commitment from the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy, to extend the Homeless Initiative west of the Pale.

"It has to be the answer. It is no good if Galway improves its services and other counties don't."