On Grafton Street, twinkling Christmas decorations hang overhead. It is nine degrees outside, according to Met Éireann, but each time the wind blows it feels decidedly colder.
Simon Community volunteers Ciarán Keogh and Azzurra Damen hunch down beside three homeless people, stainless steel flasks in hand. The group are quick to accept their offer of hot tea and soup, sandwiches and biscuits, fruit and crisps. But for the three homeless people, the nightly Simon Community soup run is about more than just sustenance.
“Not only is it food but it’s someone to talk to,” Caroline, who isn’t quite sure how long she has been on the streets other than to say it has been more than 10 years, says. “Since my mother died I’ve been on the streets. I get no respect, I get bullied, I get picked on, I get robbed. I’ve nobody to talk to. So when the soup run comes along, I have somebody to talk to. I have somebody that cares, somebody who can help with the situation.”
Sleeping rough
Caroline is one of the 5,000 or so homeless people nationwide that the Simon Community provides services to annually. The soup run is just one part of it – other services include housing provision and advice, specialist health and treatment services, emergency accommodation – but it is often the first point of contact with these services for people sleeping rough.
The run begins in a second-floor apartment on Dublin’s Capel Street. There volunteers on “early prep” duty chat amicably as they pour beef and vegetable soup and tea into stainless steel flasks before transferring them to a small table laden down with sandwiches, fruit, biscuits, popcorn and crisps.
A man empties a bag containing socks, hats and gloves and distributes them between the bags carried by the volunteers. “They love getting a pair of clean socks when we have them,” co-ordinator Liz O’Connor explains.
Noel Guinan began volunteering almost 12 years ago after the soup run was featured on TV. “It is basic hands-on stuff. You make the food, you go out, you meet people, you give them the food, you talk to them. You can’t do an awful lot for them, sadly, but you can do a little bit,” he says.
“It’s kind of double-edged. It’s rewarding in that it’s practical . . . but it’s the bigger picture that starts to grate at times . . . Anyone who is here for any reasonable amount of time would know people who have sadly passed away. On occasion we have gone to funerals of people who we have known well.” He says some people argue that, by doing what they do, the volunteers encourage people to stay on the streets. “I don’t believe that,” he says. “Nobody is going to stay on the streets for a bag of popcorn, a sandwich and some fruit”.
Preparations complete, the groups set out in teams of two. Until changes to begging laws came in early last year, the volunteers could be sure of finding people at certain spots. Now that people begging can be moved on from the vicinity of ATMs and shop entrances, the team say people aren’t as visible to them. On route two, Liz and fellow volunteer Veronica Cullen crisscross the Liffey’s bridges. On the north side of the Ha’penny bridge they meet a bearded eastern European man who looks up hopefully as the two women offer him food. His English isn’t good but he understands the sandwich choices and opts for egg. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he repeats incessantly as they walk away.
‘I’m not afraid’
“People are extremely polite, very kind,” Veronica, who has been volunteering for about a year, says. She’s not afraid of going out on the streets, despite the dark and the drink and drugs problems of many. “You make a judgment, some situations you don’t approach but I’m not afraid,” she says.
Next up is O’Connoll Street bridge. There is no one begging, or “tapping” as it’s referred to by the homeless and, in turn, by the volunteers. Then Liz spots a young man walking towards us.
He is indistinguishable from others passersby with the exception that a sleeping bag swings from his backpack.
Liz approaches shaking the silver flask by which the volunteers are recognisable. He greets them with enthusiasm: “I’ve been walking around for the past 45 minutes looking for the soup run. I’m starving so I am,” he says as the wind blows stiff and cold along the Liffey.
Others are not far behind. “I’d be lost without it,” Emma, who has been on the streets “off and on” for 25 years, says. “You’d freeze to death without it.”
Back on Grafton Street, Caroline looks up as the volunteers move on to a man wrapped in a sleeping bag who accepts the tea and biscuits he’s offered, his hands shaking.
“They’re like angels,” she says. “It’s not only food that you’re getting, it’s a bit of inspiration. Inspiration to get up and do something with my life, get off these streets,” she says, before disappearing into the night.
Simon appeal: Irish Times initative
For every newspaper sold tomorrow The Irish Times will donate 20 cent of its cover price to the Simon Community’s House of Cards Appeal, an innovative campaign that encourages businesses to make a donation to the Simon Community in lieu of sending Christmas cards or gifts. This Irish Times initiative will contribute to Simon’s work to fight the growing and changing nature of homelessness in Ireland.
Please support the Simon House of Cards Appeal by buying The Irish Times tomorrow.