Monday, July 20, 2015

Homeless in Dublin Seek Sanctuary


'PLEASE HELP ME. PLEASE, IS THERE NO HELP?'
A FEW MONTHS AGO, IT WAS A BITTERLY COLD NIGHT IN DUBLIN. At 2 am in the morning, volunteers and pastors to the homeless were walking the streets trying to help where they could.
  Steaming hot coffee, assistance to those shivering with pneumonia and racking coughs, blankets where needed were being handed out as well as some words attempting to comfort.
  As I walked past a hostel for the homeless - which was packed to full capacity, the dedicated workers doing all they could - I heard two homeless gentlemen pleading for help at the door.
  As I walked on the black ice and the snowy sleet filled the air, there was no room at the inn for the two; the lady turning them away nearly in tears at the predicament.
  The man stood and cried out in heartrending tones, 'Please help me. Please, is there no help?'

Homeless Avalanche
Those words, in tones of utmost anguish, still ring in my ears today in the summer of Dublin.
  The homeless avalanche has swept in its wake deaths, people who quietly lay down to sleep in the icy streets - hungry, unemployed and hopeless - and either froze or completed their starvation to death during the night.
  Lumiere Charity has been doing whatever we can to help, but the sheer numbers and the scale of misery are so great that despite our efforts and those of many, many helping in the streets, many people still go without help.

Shelter in Desperation
Until now. Homeless men, women and children have started taking shelter in sheer desperation in various walled up housing.
  And, at least warm and sheltered from the elements, have been surviving.
  People who until recently have been homeless, have with gratitude found themselves with a roof over their heads again.
  Concerns have been raised about whether the housing is fit for health and safety; and the people of Ireland - never to be outdone in generosity - have been pouring as volunteers from all corners of Dublin to offer their services to make suitable and safe shelter for the homeless seeking sanctuary.
  Plumbing, electricity, painting, repairs, donations of kitchen equipment and other necessities have seen a mother and her two children taken care of; numerous people caught in the poverty trap assisted and saved from death in the streets.

Choice
Homeless sanctuary seekers say that their choice is now to seek shelter and upgrade accommodation lying vacant, or death on the streets.
  They choose life.

[1] Ireland; The Human Face of Homelessnesshttp://lumierecharity.blogspot.ie/2014/05/breaking-news-ireland-human-face-of.html 
[2] Homeless flooding the streets of Ireland now starting to die
http://lumierecharity.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/homeless-flooding-streets-in-ireland.html

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