Their reasons for sleeping rough when they arrive here are complex

Their reasons for sleeping rough when they arrive here are complex

16 December 2015

THE words ‘Men’s Hostel’ may conjure up Victorian soup kitchen imagery, but the reality is very different according to a Drumaness man who has spent most of his working life helping the homeless.

Edmund McCullough has a passion for social justice, and working with the homeless in particular.

With the Simon Community in Downpatrick among the organisations he has worked for, Edmund will shortly celebrate his fifth year at Utility Street Men’s Hostel in south Belfast.

With its particular capacity for catering for men with disabilities, it caters for homeless men not just from Belfast but from across Northern Ireland.

With homelessness a more visible and distressing sight on our streets than ever before, Edmund says there are no easy solutions to this emotive issue but suggests some ways of helping are better than others.

Speaking from the Utility Street Men’s Hostel, where Edmund has a 7am start most days, he explained there was help on this site as far back as 1837, with the old ‘Cripples Institute’.

“It was an example of Victorian philanthropic charity, looking after the factory workers of industrial Belfast, men who had injuries in industrial accidents,” he explained. “There was no insurance and no welfare.”
The Utility Street hostel came under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Institute for the Disabled, was rebuilt in 1984 and earlier this year underwent a £1m refurbishment programme. The priority is to provide emergency temporary accommodation for the homeless, with 16 staff catering for 59 places.

“We have dedicated facilities here, and recently took in a young man with spina bifida,” said Edmund.

“We have some economic migrants and asylum seekers, people coming here looking for work.

“And there are people who held down full time jobs waiting to be allocated houses.”

They also cater for people who have been sleeping rough on the streets, but getting people off the streets to begin with is a difficult task, according to Edmund.

In the areas he has worked in, it is his experience that there is adequate emergency accommodation.

“Everybody has done their level best to get them off the streets,” he said. “We have enough places…They choose not to go.

“Their reasons for sleeping rough when they come in here are very complex.

“There are many statutory bodies doing everything they can to address that problem.”

Edmund said it was somewhat a myth that those without the proper documentation are turned away from the housing sector.

“I cannot fault the Housing Executive at all,” he said. “I know from first hand experience they will do everything they can, there is nobody refused because of a bit of paper, certainly not in my sphere.”

While wanting to give money to those on the streets is an understandable response, Edmund argues that talking to them over a cup of tea is a better way.

“It is more important to take some time to speak to them, to treat them like a human being and not give them money that could be used for self destruction,” he said.

And for those who do make it off the streets the impact of having slept rough can be devastating, he explained.

“It traumatises them, being subjected to the elements, physical violence and abuse,” said Edmund. “Homeless people in general suffer from poor physical health and a lot of the time their psychological health is not a priority.

“A lot of people experiencing homelessness are emotionally very fragile because not only do they experience not having a roof over their heads, no place to call their home, they experience being segregated, being asked to leave somewhere.

“You don’t throw money at that. For the rough sleepers we need a different strategy for them.

“Homelessness is not going to go away, we are going to have to think of doing different things.

The main issue Edmund wants the government to tackle is the lack of land for social housing.

“The big issue is social housing…there is not enough being built,” he said.

“Downpatrick, for example, is a homeless blackspot, with some of the highest homeless figures.”

Edmund also wants to stress that many homeless people are educated and trying to hold down jobs.

“I have met teachers, lawyers, a university professor and librarians and homelessness is coming to reflect on society and how without help people find themselves in these situations,” he said.

What spurs his staff on is their success stories.

“I have met people at the very bottom of existence but with a bit of help and support and direction they get themselves out of it.

“To give you an example, one resident came in, walked through the door the day before yesterday saying ‘I need to talk to somebody’.

“He is desperately wanting to come off alcohol and I began talking to him asking him about himself. “His mother died when he was a child, his aunt, who was his guardian, died so he had early experience of separation, trauma and bereavement. He had been with his girlfriend for a number of years and then first born child died.

“He took to alcohol and self destructive behaviour. The relationship broke up and he was just in a spiral of destruction.”
The hope is that this skilled worker can find his way back to a happier life.

“He is doing it himself, all we are doing is signposting him to counselling and to AA,” said Edmund.

“People see him as homeless, as an alcoholic on the streets, they don’t see where the story is.”

Although his hostel is not attached to any church, Edmund has a personal faith which helps shape his work.

“It does give you a strength to keep going,” he said.

“A lot of people working in homelessness are moved by personal commitment and values to help people less fortunate.

“I would be a strong believer in social justice. It is the foundation of everything I do.”

A keen walker, Edmund took on the Camino del Norte in August, one of the more demanding walking routes for pilgrims making their way to reputed burial site of the apostle James at Santiago de Compostela.

His party stayed in the basic hostels known as alburgues for pilgrims along the route.

“They are very basic,” he explained. “You have to be back out in the morning by 7am and you can’t stay at an alburgue more than one night.

“You get a sense of what it must be like to be a refugee going from place to place.

“It teaches you how to be resourceful. You start thinking about migrants and refugees, and to a degree it gives you an idea what it must be like.”

For Edmund, such pilgrimages are also a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of life, and he plans to return to the Camino Francés, the most popular of all the Camino routes, to finish off a pilgrimage he started last year.

Describing himself as a weekend walker, it is also a means of relaxation for the Drumaness man, who likes to climb Slieve Donard several times a year and go fishing in Ardglass.
With almost a quarter of a century notched up helping the homeless, Edmund has no plans to slow down and is particularly delighted with recent £1m refurbishment of Utility Street.

“This is my 24th year of working with the homeless around various organisations,” he said.

“Here at Utility Street there was nothing done to the building since 1984 and it was showing all the signs of a lot of wear and tear. 

“The heating was replaced, it was rewired and redecorated and we have a new state-of-the-art kitchen.

“The new kitchen is having a positive impact. We provide them with three meals a day and there is a smaller kitchen where they can make drinks and snacks.

“We are a progressive organisation, we have a new chief executive, and we are bringing forward new ideas new thinking.

“I think people imagine hostels as soup kitchens and doss houses, but we have modern, bright, spaces, and we have the Department of Social Development to thank. They have been very supportive.

“We also do have a lot of church groups who come spend time with the men and do recreational activities with them.”

Over Christmas, care will continue to be provided as normal at the hostel, and Edmund has thanked those who have donated time and money, including youth groups from the St Brigid’s Parish who have made Christmas shoebox presents for the hostel.

“Young people can find themselves easily condemned but I have found so many who are so thoughtful and kind,” he said.

“As far as the future goes everybody is waiting to see how the intake of refugees impacts on the sector here and we will do what we have to do.

“There is an imperative on us to look after people irrespective of their background.”

The Utility Street Men’s Hostel is a registered charity and anyone wishing to make a donation can contact them at 5 Utility Street, Belfast, BT12 5JS.