Appeal: Patrick’s Story
Hi my name is Andrea Fitzgerald, the Housing First Manager at Galway Simon Community.
One of the most heart-breaking things I ever heard was from our client Patrick, who woke up one Christmas morning only to stumble upon news of his own mother’s death on social media.
Imagine what it must feel like not just finding out your mum has died, but that no one had bothered to seek you out and tell you in person. And on Christmas day of all days.
I can picture him now, sitting in a freezing tent, battered mobile phone in hand, thinking that as far as the rest of the world is concerned, he mattered so little, he might as well be invisible.
As a teenager, Patrick was living in a hostel when a couple of lads he was hanging around with offered him drugs. As he says: ‘I honestly thought, what harm could it do?’ Then the next thing he knew, he was out on the streets, asking strangers for change. Patrick was gripped by addiction, trapped in a cycle that he couldn’t escape.
I first met Patrick when he was living in emergency accommodation and the council had referred him to Galway Simon. It was clear that he needed a lot of support, both with practical things and with his physical and emotional welfare.
With our support, Patrick’s now on top of his bills, his neighbours think he’s great and he’s doing fantastically well in terms of his addiction.
He’s also starting to take better care of himself, which shows he’s concerned with how others see him and that he knows that – at last – he’s being seen.
Patrick is so thankful for the second chance he’s been given. In fact, he credits Galway Simon supporters with saving his life, saying that without you, he’d be ‘six feet under.’
