The Road Home

Journalist, broadcaster, author and Irish Examiner columnist, Alison O'Connor has been leading our series of four discussions on The Road Home - Ending Long-Term Homelessness Together.

The fourth and final session in our series featured James Leonard sharing his remarkable journey from homelessness to being a voluntary member of our Board of Directors. Much of what James has experienced cropped up in our earlier discussions; his story brings many of those themes together into a lived experience.

Kerry Brennan, who leads our services team, offered an insight into how our approach to ending long-term homelessness has a long-standing, positive impact on people's lives and why it's important to work together to make it a reality for many more.

You can view a recording of the conversation below.

This series is now complete.

If you have any queries, please email [email protected].

The third in our series explored how we’re addressing many of the issues unique to long-term homelessness, the positive impact that’s having on people’s lives, and how we can work together to make it a reality for many more. Alison was joined by our CEO, Dermot Kavanagh; Colette O'Brien who leads our specialist housing and support services; and Dr. Austin O'Carroll, a GP with a deep interest in health inequalities. He founded SafetyNet, an umbrella organisation for primary care services in Cork, Limerick and Dublin, specialising in health care for people experiencing homelessness.

You can view a recording of the conversation below.

The second in our series explored how we can solve the issue of long-term homelessness. Alison was joined by our CEO, Dermot Kavanagh; our Head of Services, Kerry Brennan; and Professor Niamh Hourigan, Sociologist and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Mary Immaculate College.

You can view a recording of the conversation below.

The first discussion in our series was held online. Alison O'Connor was joined by our CEO, Dermot Kavanagh; our Head of Services, Kerry Brennan; and Assistant Professor at NUI Maynooth, Dr Rory Hearne. They explored many of the issues contributing to long-term homelessness and the challenges people face in trying to leave it behind.

You can view a recording of the webinar below.

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Opening Doors Spring 2024

At the Soup Run, there’s a feeling of sadness when you see someone new, because that means another person is struggling to make ends meet. With your kind help, the Soup Run provides vital help that goes far beyond a hot meal, for people who are homeless in Cork.

Work with us

Cork Simon Community is committed to equality of opportunity. We are currently recruiting for Housing First Project Workers, Project Support Workers and Outreach Project Worker.
Factsheets

View the latest monthly emergency accommodation figures for Cork and the Southwest from the Department of Housing, and download the Cork Homeless Forum Directory of Services for people experiencing homelessness and their Guide to Emergency Homeless Services in Cork.
Donate

Please donate to help someone who is homeless in Cork make a fresh start.
Get Help

Details of services and contact numbers if you are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
Part time volunteering

Volunteers founded Cork Simon almost 50 years ago and remain at the heart our community. Part-time volunteers are active in everything Cork Simon does, from sitting on our Board of Directors to helping us to fundraise to supporting people to develop life skills such as cooking, literacy and numeracy.
Christmas Jumper Day

Will you hold a Cork Simon Christmas Jumper Day so we can be there for every man and woman turning to us for help this Christmas?
No one wants their child to grow up to be homeless at Christmas."
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Services team

Key contacts for our range of services, including Emergency, Outreach, Housing and Housing First, Addiction and Aftercare, and Personal Development services.
Sponsor a Room

As a Room Sponsor you will be helping to save lives. You give a monthly gift, at an amount you can afford, to provide someone who is homeless with a safe room of their own, everything that goes with that, and a pathway to move into independent living. Believing in people.
High-support housing

Our High-Support Houses throughout Cork provide intensive levels of round-the-clock care every day for men and women whose health and other personal support needs are such that living independently is not currently sustainable.
Emergency shelter

Our Emergency Shelter on Anderson’s Quay, in the heart of Cork’s city centre, provides round-the-clock temporary accommodation and one-to one support. Our emergency shelter supports men and women over 18 years of age.

Homeless watch

752 men, women and children were depending on emergency accommodation in Cork and Kerry in February 2024.

Our Emergency Shelter is overflowing. People are staying longer because they have no other options.

Rents in Cork continue to rise while supply remains at an all-time low; Rent Supplement & Housing Assistance Payments fall well-short of current market rents.

See the figures behind the crisis in our regularly updated Homeless Watch Read more

Sponsor a Room

As a Room Sponsor you will be helping to save lives. You give a monthly gift, at an amount you can afford, to provide someone who is homeless with a safe room of their own, everything that goes with that, and a pathway to move into independent living. Believing in people. Read more

50 Faces of Cork Simon

50 Years in the making, decades in the refining. 50 Faces reflecting the thousands of men and women who make us what we are: people believing in people. These are their words, their stories, our experience. Read more

Annual Impact Report 2022

During 2022, we offered care and support, dignity and hope to 1,370 people - a 33% increase compared to 2021. As the last of the Covid restrictions lifted, we quickly restored all our services and responded to additional demand by increasing capacity. Read more

Home Truths: Single Adults Living with their Parents

MARCH 2024. Exploring the increasing proportion of younger adults having to live with their parents and the over-representation of younger adults in emergency accommodation. Read more

Donate

Please donate to help someone who is homeless in Cork make a fresh start.
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