What’s it like being homeless?

On Lunchtime Live’s Ask Me Anything series this afternoon Andrea Gilligan spoke to former homeless person Kenny Eivers about what life is like if you do not have a place to call your own.

Mr Eivers became addicted to alcohol at a young age and it was this that led to him becoming homeless.

“As life progressed, it just got worse and worse,” he said.

“Then, in my 20s, heroin came along and before I knew it, I was homeless on the streets.”

A tent for someone homeless and a man walking by the Grand Canal waterway in Dublin, Ireland.

One listener asked what assumption about homeless people do you wish people did not have?

“I think a lot of people think homeless people choose to be on the streets,” Mr Eivers said.

“Or that they chose to be an addict but a lot of it’s to do with mental health and people’s circumstances.

“Not everybody grew up in a good household.”

A homeless rough sleeper.

Another listener asked what is the best way to help those who are homeless.

“You can get involved,” Mr Eivers said.

“You can donate to charity, there’s a lot of soup kitchens and they’re doing really great work there.

“They do outreach at nighttime as well, you can donate gloves, socks - stuff like that.

“Or you can actually go along if you can volunteer with them.”

The tent of a homeless person living on the streets of Dublin City. Credit: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Another question was whether homeless people like it when strangers come up to talk to them.

“It’s nice when people talk to you because they acknowledge you then,” Mr Eivers said.

“It can lift somebody’s day because a lot people will walk by and just turn away.

“If someone comes up to you and is there for a minute, it can actually make your day because that means people actually know that you’re there on the street.”

A person wrapped in a sleeping bag in Dublin city centre in January 2021. Image: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Mr Eivers was also asked whether he had ever felt threatened while he was homeless.

“On the streets, it can be quite bad at night time,” he said.

“I’ve had instances where I’ve been kicked by drunk people [when] I was sitting there, so it can be quite be daunting being on the streets at night time because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

In December, there were 13,318 people living in emergency accommodation.

Main image: Kenny Eivers.