She had a really good heart and we will miss her terribly

She had a really good heart and we will miss her terribly

23 March 2016

A LOCAL homeless charity has vowed to step up its work following the tragic death of Catherine Kenny.

Thirty two year-old Catherine died in the doorway of a Belfast shop after taking shelter on Friday night.

Homeless for 11 months, the Downpatrick woman had battled an addiction to alcohol and drugs for several years.

Her death, which is the fifth to affect the homeless community in Belfast since January, has shocked Northern Ireland. It has also come as devastating news to two Downpatrick sisters, dedicated to those living on the streets, who yesterday remembered Catherine as a “wee light.”

Roisin and Deborah Finlay travel to Belfast several times a week with Craigavon volunteer Breige Headley to offer practical and emotional support to the homeless community through FAITH — Friendly Aftercare Service Including the Homeless.

Roisin said she kept a particular eye on Catherine after recognising her from home and spent a little bit of extra time with her on her thrice-weekly trips to Belfast.

She said she met Catherine on her first night of volunteering and was often greeted with a song.

“I knew her straight away. When you are growing up somewhere you might not know somebody personally but I knew of her,” she said.

“Because of that I would have spent that extra bit of time with her. She loved her appearance and we would have brought her nice clothes and make-up.

“She always knew how to cheer us up when she knew we needed it. She was kind hearted and would do anything for anyone. 

“She had a really good heart and would give you her last. We will miss her terribly.”

After Catherine’s untimely death, Roisin said FAITH was more determined that ever to keep the homeless issue at the forefront of peoples’ minds.

She said their ultimate goal was to get people off the streets for good, which she recognised would be a long and difficult process.

“Whilst on outreach we provide food, clothing, sleeping bags and other essential items but more importantly we listen,” she said.

“We offer an empathetic ear with no judgement and this is what most of these guys value. 

“There is an awful stigma surrounding homelessness. People identify this issue with substance and alcohol abuse when that is simply untrue. “Yes a lot of the homeless do turn to these things in times of despair, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this was the cause of their situation.

“One of the reasons we do this is because this could be any one of us at any point in our lives.

“People end up homeless due to many reasons including the breakdown of a relationship, physical, emotional or sexual abuse in the home, domestic violence, financial problems and of course mental health reasons or drug and alcohol abuse.

“All of us at one point in our lives have suffered from one of the above or know someone who has. At FAITH we stopped taking things for granted and wanted to give something back.”

A former neighbour and friend of Catherine, Emmanuel McMenamin, who runs the registered charity Downpatrick Boxing Academy which works in association with FAITH, said he was also upset by Catherine’s death. He said that while her death had made more people pay attention to the plight of those living on the streets, the homeless were all too often forgotten.

“Catherine did have a lot of help and her family helped as best they could but she had her own demons,” he said.

“But we want local people to remember that this was a local woman this happened to. 

“Catherine was very warm, you could talk to her all day long and she wore her heart on her sleeve.”

Emmanuel said he would organise a fundraiser in Catherine’s memory with FAITH in the coming weeks.

“We will do this to raise money for blankets and supplies to keep the local effort for homeless people going,” he said.