26 Simon Communities of Ireland SECTION 3 Findings 3.1 Profile of interviewees (who are homeless/have experience of homelessness) 3.1.1 Overview Interviews were conducted with sixteen individuals, three women and thirteen men in eight81 locations. The average age of the interviewees was sixty-one. Thirteen of the interviewees lived in urban locations, while three lived in rural locations. All were in regular contact with a Simon Community and had a key worker. Five interviewees were living independently, three in houses rented from various local authorities, one in a Simon Apartment and one in his home82. Eleven interviewees were living in communal accommodation, serviced by Simon staff and volunteers. See Table 3.1 for an overview of these interviewees. Table 3.1 A Profile of the Interviewees Pseudonyms83 Current Living Arrangements Age Dominic Lives in an emergency Simon hostel that caters for all age groups 73 Dara Lives in an emergency Simon hostel that caters for all age groups 51 Kate Lives in an emergency Simon hostel that caters for all age groups 66 Derek Lives in Simon medium support communal accommodation 66 Dan Lives in Simon medium support communal accommodation Late 60s Ciaran Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) 55 Con Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) Mid 50s Cillian Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) 69 Ciara Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) 53 Garret Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) 67 Graham Lives in Simon high support communal accommodation (that caters for an older age group) 55 Peter Lives in local authority housing at the edge of a market town, with support provided by Simon 55 Sean Lives in a local authority housing in a small rural village, with support provided by Simon 60 Kevin Lives in local authority housing in a large town, with support provided by Simon 66 Liam Lives in Simon housing, with support provided by Simon 61 Leo Lives in own home (which is very poor condition), with support provided by Simon 64 81 Dublin, Cork, Galway, Dundalk, Longford, Sligo, Leitrim and Limerick. 82 This house (Leo’s house) is in very poor condition and efforts had been made to get Leo to re-locate to a nearby town. He moved for a short period but within a few months moved back his home, preferring as he described it ‘to be in my own corner’. 83 Names and identifying have been changed to protect the identity of the interviews and their families
Homelessness, Ageing and Dying
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