ANNUAL REPORT 2015
PlayDirector's Report

Safe Zone

Speaking from our Aftercare House, Sean* recalls his experience of becoming homelessness and sleeping rough, his efforts to get sober and his sheer relief at being offered a bed in our Aftercare House – what Sean calls his ‘safe zone’ – from where he is making plans for his future.

*not his real name

Director's Report

Our Director, Dermot Kavanagh, talks about how people are finding themselves stuck for longer and longer periods of time in emergency accommodation, how housing, and providing support in housing, is key to ending homelessness and our plan to access 100 new housing units by 2020.

PlayChair's Report
PlayResident’s Video

Chair's Report

Chair of our Board of Directors, Eoin McGuirk, reflects on how so many different people and organisations come together through Cork Simon to play their part in solving homelessness and outlines some of our key plans for the years to come so we continue to respond to homelessness in a dynamic, responsive way.

The Story of 2016

More people than ever stuck for longer periods of time in emergency accomodation

An average of 53 people per night relied on a Cork Simon emergency bed in 2016 - the highest number yet

People stayed 54 Nights on average at our emergency shelter during 2016 - the longest average stay on record

Long term homelessness* increased again in 2016

52 people at our Emergency Shelter were long term homeless
* long-term homeless is defined by Government as stays of at least six months (continuous or broken stays) over the previous 12 months in emergency accommodation.

22% of people staying in our emergency shelter were women- the highest percentage yet

737 people sought support at our day service* - the highest number yet

*Our Day Service is home to a range of services including our Outreach Service and Youth Homeless Drug Prevention Programme and provides access to a Health Team.

Despite the deepening housing crisis,
we continued to secure housing in 2016 and we continued to campaign for actionon the housing and homeless crisis.

Housing

28 people

were newly housed in 2016

with the help of our housing support team.

We were granted planning permission to convert

St Joachim & Anne's on Anglesea St. into

8 independent

1-bed apartments

2016 saw the completion of Home at Last, our community plan for 2016-19.

A central goal in the plan is to increase our housing stock by

100 units by 2019

We opened our 2nd aftercare house

This 3-bed house offers women recovering from addition a safe and stable base from which
they can begin rebuilding their lives and compliments our existing aftercare house for men.

Campaigning

In our

Home Truths Report

Cork Simon residents spoke about the Discrimination, Bureaucracy & Frustration

faced by the people experiencing homelessness when trying to find a home.

Cork Simon residents took to the streets for our

cut the red tape pop up protest

Life-size, cut-out images of residents protesting the injustice of the housing and homeless crisis 'popped up' at various locations thoughout the city in September.

Giving

Almost

10,000

generous and kind-hearted donors contributed

€3.73 million

in 2016

Over

800 volunteers

give their time, energy
and skill to Cork Simon. Among them,

42 people from 17 different countries volunteered full-time in 2016.

Without this support, we could not provide the level of service that we do. Thank you!

The year inpictures

Accounts

View Accounts

Board attendance

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL SEP OCT NOV DEC
Angela McDonald ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Ann FitzGerald         ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Anthony O'Donovan ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Bernadette McGonigle ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓
Brendan Ryan ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Eoin MacCuirc ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Ernest Cantillon ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
James O'Shaugnessy ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓  
John Murphy                  
Peter O’Meara     ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓ ✓    
Tim McCarthy ✓     ✓ ✓     ✓ ✓  
Tomás O'Callaghan ✓ ✓   ✓     ✓ ✓ ✓   ✓

* seconded to the Charities Regulatory Authority

No board meeting in August

Thanks for all the support

  • The drawing at the top of the report is the work of Gabriella O’Keeffe, a first year student from Colaiste Mhuire, Buttevant.
  • Thanks to the professional services of John J Murphy Solicitors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and AIB, Patrick Street, Cork.
  • Thanks to the Simon Communities of Ireland for their continued support and to the Simon Communities in Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Midlands, Mid West, North West and South East. [ www.simon.ie ]
  • Thanks to Cream Creative for their help and advice in the production of this annual report. [ www.cream.ie ]

Special thanks to our hundreds of volunteers and thousands of donors throughout the year who have helped to make a real difference.

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