Laois Nationalist,
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013
EIGHT Laois people have
availed of the Midlands Simon Emergency Accommodation Service since it opened
last year.
The Midlands Simon Community celebrated the first birthday of
its emergency accommodation service in Tullamore, which covers the Laois/Offaly
area.
The milestone was attended
by public representatives Offaly TD Marcella Corcorcan Kennedy and members of
the Midlands Simon Community. Independent research revealed at the event showed
that the Midlands Simon Community in Tullamore and the wider midlands region
delivers the most cost-effective homeless support service in the country in
terms of both value for money and positive outcomes. According to Murtagh and
Associates, who carried out a review of the services in July 2013: “No other
service in the country has attained similar efficiencies.”
Research findings show the
proportion of homeless people supported by the Midlands Simon Community, who
successfully move into independent living arrangements, is ten times the
national average. The proportion of former homeless people being supported by
the Midlands Simon Community to remain out of homelessness is substantially
above the national average at 65 percent.
In relation to the
emergency accommodation service in Tullamore alone, the demand for the service
since its opening in June 2012 can be seen as: 34 admissions (25 male
admissions and nine female admissions), an average occupancy rate of 89% and
76% of residents attained a successful housing outcome, which highlights the
need and benefits of the service to those who need emergency accommodation.
Of these figures, four
male admissions and four female admissions were originally from Laois, with 75%
of them attaining a successful housing outcome following their stay in the
emergency accommodation service.
The service does not just
provide a bed for the night for those who might otherwise be sleeping rough,
but works with clients to help them rebuild their lives and return to
independent and stable living through key working sessions and life skills
training. Tony O’Riordan, CEO of Midlands Simon Community, said: “We have
worked with people who were sleeping in a car, in a bin, in a field and in a
house without running water,” he said. “We are the last port of call for people
experiencing homelessness.”
Despite an increased
demand, the Midlands Simon Community receives one of the lowest levels of
funding in the country – just 1.5% percent of state funding spent on
homelessness. Cuts of 12.27% in homeless services in the midlands were delivered
in September. This compares to some regions receiving no cut in funding.
Speaking at the event in
Tullamore, Mr O’Riordan added: “Midlands Simon Community is doing fantastic
work and has a positive relationship with the local authority and the HSE. We
are punching well above our weight and delivering extremely positive results
for the people we support on a daily basis. We have the lowest number of staff
employed in homeless services yet we achieve the highest level of positive
outcomes for those we support in the country.
“However,
we simply could not continue to deliver such a service if the 15 percent cut to
our state funding is not reversed.
Such a cut threatens the survival of the one last safety net for those who have
no home and nowhere else to turn. It makes no sense to cut support for services
that are yielding such a positive return for the state and the most vulnerable
people in our communities; particularly
when the government claims that it wants to end long-term homelessness by 2016.”
Over 100 volunteers give
their time each week to support the work of Midlands Simon Community. Visitwww.midlandssimon.com or call 090 6444641 for more information or how you can
get involved.
Sinn Féin Mountmellick
– Serving The Community
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