“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, according to that Christmas playlist staple. “It’s the hap-happiest season of all”. But for men and women experiencing homelessness, Christmas can feel like just another day of struggle, isolation, and survival.
It’s how Stephen describes his experience of being homeless: “For so many years, I felt totally left out of Christmas. It was just another day. I kept my head down and waited for it to pass.”
No hearts a glowing. No friends coming to call. No loved ones near. No reason to be of good cheer.
This is the reality of what the Simon outreach team sees on their rounds of the city each morning. Men and women in doorways and alleyways. Some in tents, some with just a blanket or sleeping bag covering them — their only protection from the winter elements.
"Out on the street is no place for nobody”, says former rough sleeper, Richard. “It’s very, very bad. It’s tough. I wouldn’t wish it on nobody. You’re going around freezing, drowned wet. The next day you’re freezing, you’ve had no sleep. Your head is playing games with you."
And that’s the thing. Rough sleeping takes its toll on your mental wellbeing as well as your health. Cian likens his experience of rough sleeping to a battle: “Every day was like being in a war zone with myself and with the world around me. Living out of a rucksack…walking the streets with no security for the night ahead. I had no sense of security or calmness. Chaos just ensued every day.”
And the longer that continues, the more you begin to feel you have, as Cian puts it, “no future, no dream, no lust or zest for life or anything.”
Marie describes it as a numbness. “This time last year I was a broken-down person. There was a numb feeling. I used to feel like a shell. Looking back, that’s from being on the streets.”
And if that wasn’t enough, you must try and deal with the stigma associated with rough sleeping. Anne felt it deeply: “I’ve been looked down on because I was homeless,” she recalls. “It makes you feel you’re not worthy of life as much as other people would be.”
Your head is playing games with you. No sense of security or calmness. No lust or zest for life. A numb feeling. Not worthy of life. It sums up for Alan, “…what it’s like to not have anything and to be alone, abandoned.”
Day after terrible day. And Christmas is just another terrible day.
But with some distance from those terrible days, Martin has time to reflect. "We all fall. We all make mistakes,” he says.
It’s something so many people here in Cork and Kerry recognise. They don’t give up. They don’t judge. They believe in people.
And that means we can be there for the Richards and Annes — and so many more, when they have nowhere else to turn.
That real sense of community that’s so special here in Cork and Kerry, and the kindness, compassion and generosity that come with it, make all the difference. It’s life changing. “Simon makes no judgement,” Martin says. “Without them, people like me would have neither direction nor hope. Simon builds you back up. A second chance.”
What better gift than a second chance?
It’s been life-changing for Marie. “The staff made me strong; they gave me a bit of their strength to carry on. Now I can feel things and see things better than I could back then. There’s meaning to what I do. There was no feeling before. I thought there was no hope; but today, there is hope.”
And that strength comes from a community that cares — cares about homelessness and cares about the men and women experiencing homelessness. It helps to create new beginnings and rekindle hope.
“I got a second life…through Simon — a life I never had all along,” says Cian. He talks about how he now has “a sense of purpose, a sense of worth and security”. And that’s given him a new resolve: “Simon has my back. I'm able to journey through whatever the world throws at me knowing that I’ve got that security behind me.”
And that’s only possible because so many generous people here in Cork and Kerry have Cian’s back. They’re with him. Every step of the way.
And not just Cian.
“If it wasn’t for you and Cork Simon, I wouldn’t be here today. No word of a lie”, says Stephen. “I don’t feel left out of anything anymore. I feel loved, and part of life.”
We believe no one should be left out at Christmas. That everyone should feel part of the community. That Christmas should never be just another terrible day.
To help make that possible, visit www.corksimon.ie/donate.
