DePaul Talk to Form III on Homelessness

Grace Koch, Form III, reports on the recent CSPE class visit of Sarah Kearney from DePaul on homelessness.

Sarah Kearney is the Community and Events Manager for DePaul Ireland. Last Friday, she spoke to us about her organisation and the issue of homelessness. Homelessness affects a massive portion of the Irish population, with 11,754 people being registered as seeking emergency accommodation. This figure is expected to exceed 12,000 by the end of the month. 3,400 of these people are children. However, this statistic does not account for people who are not registered, such as people living in hotels or staying with friends. There are many causes of homelessness, such as addiction, the housing crisis, family estrangement, debt, disability, poverty, and eviction. Many homeless people have only a sleeping bag and the clothes on their backs.

DePaul was founded in 1989 in London and came to Dublin in 2002. It is an international organization, with services in many countries such as Ireland, the UK, Croatia, Ukraine, and more. Their goal is to end homelessness and they work toward a world where everyone has a place to call home and a stake in their community. DePaul focuses on five main areas: prevention, families and young people, high-support accommodation, health and rehabilitation, and housing. They have 37 services around Ireland in 20 counties. In 2021, they supported 3,670 people and 822 families. We can help reduce homelessness by spreading awareness, organizing our own events, and interacting with DePaul’s content online. The talk was very informative and engaging, and everyone learned a lot about the issue of homelessness.