When An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made the initial ‘Stay at Home’ announcement on March 12th
2020, we – like many others – were deeply alarmed.

As a leading homelessness charity in the West of Ireland, we were very aware of the challenges in
following guidance to ‘Stay at Home’ when you have no home.

Additionally, we support many people who are very vulnerable as a result of the impact of
homelessness on their physical and mental health.

We ran some of the models that were in use at the time for our population, and they indicated that
we would likely lose a number of clients to the Coronavirus with a number of others becoming
seriously ill.

We were running 10 separate Services at the time for different cohorts of people facing
homelessness (Rough Sleepers, Emergency Service, Youth Service, Housing First, Housing Led,
Community Based Housing, High Support Housing, Women’s and Families, Health and Wellbeing
Multi- Disciplinary Team Supports, Prevention and Tenancy Sustainment Services). How were we to
keep Services running safely? How could we protect clients, staff and volunteers? With the
potential collapse of fundraising and the closure of our shops, how would we ensure the financial
stability of the charity during the crisis?

On March 13th, we spoke with the key stakeholders involved in Homeless Services in the West. On
Saturday March 14th, representatives of
– Galway Simon Community including our Nurse and GP who support people across all Homeless Services in Galway,
– COPE Galway,
– Galway City Council,
– and the HSE

Met and set up the Galway City Emergency Covid Response Team for Homeless Services. Over the
following hours, days, weeks and months we moved mountains. We accomplished in very short
periods what at other times would take exponentially longer. We cut through red tape. We worked
incredibly long hours. We collaborated, shared, supported each other. We accessed additional
guidance, support and funding locally and nationally.

I will never forget that Saturday meeting. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my
life. The vocational aspect of our work in health and social care, supporting people facin-g
homelessness, shone very brightly that day. There was an extraordinary focus on solutions, and
somehow all bureaucratic hurdles could be managed.

We started by prioritising the clients across all Services who would be most vulnerable to the virus,
and agreed actions needed to ensure their safety. In many cases this involved moving people out of
congregated settings in order that they could isolate and cocoon more safely. The Council made
properties that were vacant and due for refurbishment available. We looked to tenant as quickly as
possible properties we had just acquired for our Housing First and Housing Led programs. Our
Property Team managed to get tradesmen to carry out works to ensure that utilities and essential
services were working, and that the properties were safe. In spite of the fact that shops were
closed, they also managed to have furniture and/or white goods delivered. We moved people out of
Emergency and other Homeless Services into their own properties. And once there, we continued to
support them to ensure they would not be too frightened or isolated.

We ‘bubbled’ staff into specific Services to minimise people moving between our buildings. The
majority of us who continued to come to our workplace saw ourselves as having two ‘bubbles’, one
at home and one at work. Our families and colleagues were deeply aware of the vulnerability of our
clients, and respectful of our ‘bubbles’.

The risks that we were all facing were enormous, and we were working with a very vulnerable
population, whom we had to support to adapt and adjust very quickly. It is incredible to recall, how
creative our Teams had to be to ensure that our clients had access to and could use technology in
ways they hadn’t done previously, but it was essential in order to mitigate against isolation. At the
same time, we were aware of how the virus was spreading, and that people were getting infected
and dying.

Please see below a contemporaneous note prepared in April 2020, a few weeks into the
lockdown. It outlines the extent of the measures that were underway in our organisation, and the
very holistic approach taken to care for our clients at the time.

As a result of the extraordinary collaboration and efforts made throughout the pandemic, and the
incredible commitment of our teams, we kept people safe. It was the end of 2020 before we saw a
single case of the virus across our entire Community of clients, staff and volunteers. We did not
have a single outbreak. We did not lose anyone to the virus. Nobody became seriously ill with
Coronavirus.

We did a lot of financial scenario planning. In the early weeks, we ran worst case to best case
scenarios. They were bleak. We were fortunate to have reserves, and we came to deeply
appreciate – in a way that we could previously never have imagined – the importance of reserves to a
charity like ours. We took the view in the initial stages that we needed to focus on keeping people
safe, that we would lean on the reserves if/as necessary and worry about the financials later. We
could not at that stage have anticipated the phenomenal response of our local Community in
Galway, Mayo and Roscommon and the way in which people responded to our fundraising appeals
and reimagined fundraising events over the period. While 2020 and 2021 were very challenging
years, we maintained the financial stability of the organisation.

We are deeply grateful for the way that the Government, HSE, Local Authorities and other agencies
handled the crisis. It wasn’t perfect. It couldn’t be in such unprecedented and uncertain
circumstances. But there was always a sense that everyone was doing the very best that they
could. We felt, during the most uncertain days after the initial shock announcement, that we could
only do our best because none of us had a rule book for this, we had no previous experience to lean
on. We hoped that people would not forget what those days felt like, how hard people worked, how
frightening it was, how courageous people were in continuing to provide vital services when they
were also conscious of the health and safety of their own loved ones. We still hope for that now.

On behalf of Galway Simon Community, we are very proud of how our teams responded, of the
incredible collaboration locally and nationally, of the fact that ultimately, we beat the predictive
models and kept everyone in our Community safe. And we are very grateful for the support at so
many levels that enabled us to do that.

Note On Galway Simon Community’s Response to Covid-19
Prepared April 2020
Galway Simon faces huge challenges in providing supports to the most vulnerable people in the
community. It is impossible to follow advice to stay at home, when you have no home. For those at
risk of or experiencing homelessness, Coronavirus is a crisis on top of a crisis.

Here in Galway Simon we have incredibly dedicated front-line teams, who have been tirelessly
coming together to put additional measures in place to keep our clients, staff and volunteers safe
and well. Many of those we support have serious underlying medical issues and are very vulnerable.

Our primary focus during the Covid-19 period is to protect our clients, staff, volunteers and the
wider community. Some of the practical measures we have already put in place include:

Response Teams
– Our Galway Simon Emergency Response Team, advised by our GP and Nurse, is overseeing
our response to Covid-19 across Galway Simon Services.
– We are actively engaging with the Galway City Emergency Response Team for Homeless
Services

‘Stay at Home’ – safe cocooning, self -isolation and social distancing
Risk assessments have been carried out for clients across homeless services in Galway, in
collaboration with Cope Galway and City Council, and with significant clinical input from Dr.
Kieran and Nurse Regina. This led to:
o our property and front- line teams supporting a number of clients (twelve since
March 14th) to move into their own homes, where they can self- isolate or cocoon
safely
o we have reduced the numbers in our Emergency Service from 16 to 11, in order to
support social distancing
o we have identified spaces within our services where those we support can, if
necessary, self- isolate
o the decanting of Cope’s Family Hub at Corrib Haven and this building being turned
into a self -isolation facility for homeless services across Galway
o the decanting of Cope’s Winter Initiative accommodation into a 32- bed hostel.
o We have also supported City Council in furnishing other accommodation for self- isolation

Infection Control

– New protocols have been developed and are constantly updated, in line with HSE Guidance
on the care of vulnerable groups, the management of residential care facilities, infection
control and self- isolation to support safe and effective practice across our services during
the pandemic
– The protocols and other guidance, algorithms, posters etc are available to all staff on our
Intranet.
– We are providing ongoing resources and educational support to clients around good
hygiene, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and social distancing practices. We have
distributed hand sanitisers and other hygiene products to clients across our services.

Monitoring
– We have acquired a number of small testing instruments that will enable us to monitor
clients’ stats such as oxygen absorption by attaching a small device to a finger. Regina will
support services to roll out the use of these. They will enable us to establish the baseline
stats for vulnerable clients in particular, and then to monitor any change to baseline so that
we can respond quickly should a client become unwell
– We have also sourced a number of infrared thermometers that enable non- contact taking of
a person’s temperature

Testing
– Our Nurse has been fully trained on testing to ensure that testing for clients in homeless
services can be carried out in a timely manner. This is essential to mitigate the risk of an
outbreak in our residential services in particular.
– Our staff have been included in the Essential Workers category for fast track testing

Transport
– We have put a service in place to ensure that we can safely transport clients who may be
symptomatic or feeling unwell, for example from the hospital back to our services

Client Support
– We are maintaining regular contact with clients who live in the community. We have
adjusted our practice in line with current guidance, and a lot of our contacts with clients are
now via video call and phone. We are using Whatsapp, video calls, zoom and Microsoft
teams. Reduced numbers of face to face meetings continue to take place, with appropriate
social distancing.
– We are delivering food, shopping and essential medication to clients who are self- isolating
and cocooning.
– We have organised Meals for Health deliveries for some clients who are cocooning
– We are supporting some clients who may be experiencing food poverty with food hampers
– We have provided phones, tablets and tvs to clients who are restricting their
movements. We are also supporting clients with books, jigsaws, model sets, exercise
resources, gardening equipment and other materials, to help them to alleviate anxiety and
take care of their mental health
– We continue to provide reassurance to clients who are experiencing anxiety at this time. For
some who experienced social isolation over a number of years, and had started taking their
first steps to social integration, the Emergency Measures in place at present are particularly
challenging. We are assuring clients that by keeping their distance at present, they are a
part of our community and not outside it
– As the Government and HSE messaging moves from the initial emergency stages, to
warnings around social distancing being with us for some time, we have moved to looking at
how we can use technology to try to promote some key interactions for clients – doctor
appointments by laptop; Galway Simon Music Project over Zoom; AA meetings and Recovery
College using Zoom and other platforms

PPE
– We have sourced, and continue to source, PPE to include full suits for CPR, masks, gloves,
aprons, hand sanitiser etc to protect clients, staff and volunteers across our services
– We have acquired a number of video baby monitors that may support our caring for clients,
should we have a suspected case, without constantly donning and doffing PPE

Care
– We have applied predictive modelling to assess the potential numbers in homeless services
in Galway who may become very unwell
– With clinical inputs from our GP and Nurse, we have a contingency plan in place for the care
of vulnerable clients who may become ill with the virus but for whom we may struggle to
secure a hospital admission should a major surge materialise

Collaboration
– Dr Kieran is in regular communication with Public Health and with Dr Austin O’Carroll in
Dublin, Dr Anna Marie Naughton in Cork and Dr Patrick O’Donnell in Limerick who are
supporting those in homeless services across the country
– We are in regular discussions with other statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure that
there is a coordinated and collaborative response to protecting those experiencing or at risk
of homelessness in Galway
– Through collaboration with our Simon colleagues around the country, and networks such as
the European Housing First Hub, we are staying abreast of the response elsewhere in Ireland
and abroad.

Our work continues
– While the housing and homelessness crises are further down the headlines during this
pandemic, they haven’t gone away. We have not lost sight of the other needs of those who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness in our community and our front- line workers
continue to provide essential supports to those who need our help.

Supporting our Teams
– We have put measures in place to support our staff including a dedicated Covid-19 Sick Pay
Policy and EAP sessions
– We are keeping our staffing levels under constant review. Since mid- March, we have been
down between 16 and 30% on our rosters at any given time due to Covid 19 related
absence. A number of staff have been redeployed across front line services. We have
recruited additional relief staff and we have assessed the availability of agency staff. We
have also spoken with City Council and the HSE about accessing support from the army,
should this be required as a last resort
– Insofar as possible, given the relative size of the organisation, we are restricting staff
movement across services
– We linked in with HSE Public Health and with the Dept of Housing around the Derogation for
Social Care Workers. While we do not anticipate at this point that we will need it, Protocols
for the implementation of the Derogation have been prepared should it be necessary to
avail of it to keep services running safely
– Should future guidelines and/or occupational health guidance require us to take a staff
member’s temperature before or during a shift, we have sourced sufficient infrared
thermometers to have on available in each service to support this safely
– Work practices have been adjusted to ensure a safe working environment for staff. A
number of people across our teams are working from home.
– We have made adjustments to our full- time volunteer programme for the current year and
anticipate further adjustments for the 2020/21 programme

Financing our Services
– Under the current Government guidance, our two charity shops are closed and staff have
been redeployed to front line services.
– The closing of our shops has cut off a vital source of income for the organisation. In
addition, many of our fundraising events have been cancelled. With our income severely
impacted, and the cost of running our services increasing as we respond to the Coronavirus
crisis, our finances are under significant pressure. Budgets continue to be reassessed as the
situation evolves.
– We have applied for the Wage Subsidy Scheme for non- funded posts
– Our fundraising team has launched an Emergency Appeal

Communications
_ Weekly staff updates are provided by the CEO
_ Our Communications Team are providing regular updates from the front line to our
supporters

As the housing and homelessness crises have continued to deepen in the West, our services have
been stretched as more and more people come to us year on year looking for help. With economic
difficulties looming, we are hugely concerned about even more challenges ahead.

Our incredible teams continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our clients are housed, supported
and safe at this challenging time.