Election 2024: Homelessness — ‘I never expected to fall into that situation. I felt so bad for my baby daughter’
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Alice’s* daughter was two months old when she decided to leave her abusive relationship.
“We had moved into a brand new apartment together,” she said. “But I couldn’t stay in that relationship.
"It was a very difficult decision. I had to break it off. And that’s how this story all started.
The 37-year-old, who has a degree in international business and who is from a Latin American country, would find herself unable to continue any employment when she had to take care of her baby full-time.
The father of her child, an Irish man, did not want to share the responsibility of looking after his daughter.
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So she was on her own.
Alice was renting a single room for €1,300 a month but was burning through her savings quickly when the landlord said they wanted to move someone else in for more rent than she was paying.
“I was struggling to find a creche for my daughter,” she said.
“My plan at that time was that if I could find a creche, I could go out and apply for jobs and then figure out if I can rent another place.
“My main concern at the time was where I was going to live.” After seeking support from Focus Ireland and Crosscare, Alice ended up presenting as homeless to Dublin City Council.
It’s a difficult memory to recall.
She said: “They sent us to a hotel on Talbot St. So I was living there with my child for almost four months.
“That was a horrible situation. Just horrible. I just made that time... I feel just... It was very, very hard.
“I never expected to fall into that situation, or to stay in that situation. I felt so bad about myself and my daughter.
Alice and her daughter lived in a hotel room. They had no fridge. She was worried about the diet she and her child would have. She tried her best to get the hotel manager onside to get some extra perks that the other homeless families in the hotel didn’t have.
For the entire time, her goal was getting out of this situation.
“It’s not a good thing to feel a victim,” she said. “You have to think about how you’re going to find the solution.”
From there, Alice went to stay in a family hub in north Dublin. They would be there for just under a year.
Having considerable experience in banking and sales in the country of her birth, and speaking fluent English, she felt she would have a lot to offer in the job market.
But with no support available to help look after her daughter, she faced an uphill battle to secure employment.
On top of that, finding a creche proved difficult and potential landlords frequently balked when she said she was availing of the housing assistance payment (HAP).
While she was grateful to have the roof over her head, she felt that the kind of essential support to help her get out of this situation was lacking. She said:
“I knew I needed to move as quickly as I could because she was going to turn two years old, and I didn’t want her in that environment.
“You have to figure it out yourself. If you are ignorant, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes, and everything gets delayed and slowed down.” Alice’s persistence eventually paid off.
In August, she was able to secure a full-time creche for her daughter and they now live in a one-bedroom apartment.
“It might not be a forever home. But look, I needed this now. I needed a home for me and my daughter. People need to understand this can happen to anybody.
“There were so many families in my position. We just need that support.”
• The names of those involved have been changed.