20 years after being homeless on the streets, I’m one of the fortunate few.
My name is Mark Anthony and I’ve been out on the streets with only a blanket in December.
I remember the dark, the freezing cold, the pouring rain, and hearing Christmas music playing in the distance.
I’ve never felt more lonely.
People become homeless for all kinds of reasons, but looking back, I can see how vulnerable I was.
My birth parents gave me up as a baby and I grew up in care. I always felt I didn’t belong. I ended up going into a children’s home when I was 14. Even today, I don’t like thinking about that horrible, horrible time, but the feeling that no one wanted me was so strong I carried it with me for years.
When I turned 18, I was on my own. This all happened 20 years ago, and there was no more support. I was homeless.
As a compassionate person, you’ll understand there’s a lot of pain on the streets. Some people have had relationship breakdowns. Others, like me, have had a tough start in life and, once you’re homeless, it’s very hard to find a way back.
Right now, the housing crisis means the threat of homelessness is hanging over many families here in the West of Ireland. My heart goes out to them, and I’m sure yours does too. This Christmas, your support is needed like never before, and whatever you give will make a difference.
I’m sure you find it distressing to see people today sleeping in doorways or under bridges. For three years, I was one of them. Sometimes there was a place in a homeless shelter, but there were many nights outside shivering – from the cold and fear. I remember being in the dark, and looking up to the stars to find the strength to keep going.
There were other homeless people around – all older than me. Many of them used drink and drugs as a way to cope. I felt under pressure to join them. You see, I was so young. I wanted to be accepted because I was terrified of being on my own. I’m grateful that I managed to keep out of trouble.
I’ve blocked out a lot of the memories of that time, but I’ll never forget hitting rock bottom. I’d been angry. I’d been too scared to close my eyes. I’d felt the pain of being rejected by everyone. Then, finally, I felt nothing. I’d cried so many times I had nothing left.
That’s what rock bottom really is – not caring about anything. Not even yourself. Your life is so hard and without hope that you don’t want to wake up any more.
As a caring member of the community, I’m sure – like me – you don’t want anyone to feel like that. Not anywhere, and especially not here in the West of Ireland: the place we’re fortunate enough to call home. I feel lucky that I can now do something to help people who’ve fallen on hard times, and I’m thankful you want to do the same.
I remember I was sitting with a curtain wrapped around me when someone came to tell me there was a place for me in Emergency Accommodation at Galway Simon. I’d been homeless for three years. Like I said, I’d stopped feeling anything, but then it came – this tiny spark of hope. A flicker of light in the darkness.
My life changed that moment.
It’s caring people like you who shine light into the darkness. I was given more than a place to live. I had a home, where people cared about me, and I became part of the Galway Simon Community.
I knew I was lucky, but then the funerals started. People who I’d met on the streets were dying. At each funeral, there was one less person saying goodbye – until the last one of my friends died. There was no one but me standing there.
That’s the reality. Of all the people on the streets with me 20 years ago, I’m the only one who’s come through. The only one to have a home, a job and a family. So many sad and lonely lives ended too soon. Without the kindness and compassion of people like you, it would have been me too.
Mark Anthony at work in the Galway Simon Community Charity Shop.
With support from you and the Galway Simon community, I found a path into work by volunteering. I even met my wife-to-be through Galway Simon and, today, we have our own family.
I’m now working with Galway Simon Community as Assistant Shop Manager and I’m doing everything I can to give my children the happiness and security that was missing from my childhood. I love seeing them opening their presents.
Because when you’re on the streets, Christmas is gone. Christmas is nothing. It’s another day when you’re cold, hungry and lonely.
As a caring person who wants to make a difference, your support could help give someone a home, hope and a new beginning. Because as I discovered, with a home comes a sense of safety.
Finally, you belong, and you can rebuild your life from there.
