Galway Simon Community

Galway Simon believes that any person who sleeps rough, lives in emergency accommodation or in inadequate, insecure or unsafe housing is experiencing homelessness. People sleeping out in doorways, parks, in derelict sites and in abandoned cars experience the most extreme form of homelessness. This is what most of the public think of when they hear the word 'homeless'. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.The 'invisible' homeless, people who live in emergency accommodation, in shelters, hostels, refuges, in B&Bs or double share with friends and relatives, make up about 10 times the number of people sleeping rough. They are also without a home and in need of help.
Being homeless is more than about being without a roof over your head; it's about a lack of security, lack of belonging, lack of privacy and lack of safety. The experience of homelessness is arguably one of the grossest violations of human rights in developed economies like Ireland.

Homelessness is not, and should never be accepted as, an inevitable outcome for any person.
We believe that homelessness in Ireland can be ended. By an end to homelessness we mean no one will have to sleep rough because of a lack of appropriate services, no one will have to live in emergency accommodation for longer than is an emergency, and no one will become homeless due to a lack of services or inadequate housing provision.