Homeless in Galway can mean many things, and the property boom ensures it doesn't have to be synonymous with poverty and unemployment any more. The rented sector has become increasingly competitive because of house prices, and lone parents seeking rented accommodation can find themselves close to the bottom of the list.
Even if they are in regular employment, it doesn't make much difference. Landlords willing to accept children and rent supplements are becoming a rarity, according to Galway Simon Community. As a lone parent, this reporter can appreciate some of the difficulties.
Moving to Galway a little over three years ago, I learned very quickly not to mention "woman and child only" when following up accommodation advertisements. Little has changed.
Ms Mairead Conroy, deputy director with Galway Simon, is concerned about the double burden faced by many single mothers and the high risk of being caught in a poverty trap not of their making. There is a perception that homelessness is about homeless men, when many women in difficult domestic situations represent the "hidden homeless", she says.
Nor is crisis accommodation the organisation's only brief. That's why she and her colleagues have put such energy into a project which is being opened in the city today by the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Bobby Molloy.
The resettlement project on Galway's Dyke Road is described as the first of its kind in the west of Ireland, and a flagship initiative for Galway Simon. The aim is to provide a supported housing environment, where homeless people are given the opportunity, through a year-long programme, to regain their dignity, grow and develop within a community setting.
The course will include development skills, and medical needs will also be met. It was planned long before the Government's recently published integrated strategy on homelessness, but mirrors the need for continuous support identified in that study.
Capital funding is to be doubled in the next five years to support this, with a special emphasis on transitional accommodation. Some £6 million has been earmarked for local authorities to fund settlement and outreach programmes. The idea is that health boards will oversee care costs, but Galway Simon is still waiting for a response from the Western Health Board to support costs for this project.
The location is a Galway Corporation-owned building, the old Waterworks House on Dyke Road. The local authority funded an extension to the building, and the Department of the Environment has pledged £360,000 over the next three years. The house is very much a part of the community, and there is a very positive feel about it, Ms Conroy says.
Waterworks House represents the "next step on" from emergency accommodation, with high support, but Galway Simon has also opened two new low-support move-on housing projects in the past year.
The Corrach Bui project in Rahoon accommodates five people who require a small level of assistance to live their lives in a secure setting, while a similar project has been established at Rocklands Avenue in Ballybane. Both were funded by Galway Corporation.