Big events like Storm Ophelia can be a lot for a child to process.
While the time off school for last week’s hurricane was obviously welcome for many of them, the warnings to stay indoors, pictures of the areas worst hit by the hurricane and the tragic news of lives lost were upsetting for some kids.
A young girl called Meghan was clearly struck by the images she saw of homelessness organisations working to help some of society’s most vulnerable people during the storm.
She got in touch with the Peter McVerry trust to thank its volunteers for their work.
Her letter, which the charity shared on Twitter, reads;
“To the homeless society.
Thank you for taking care of the homeless people at the hurricane Ophelia.
Because I get really sad about them because they have no money and food and a home.
At the hurricane I felt very helpless!
I am seven years old.
My name is Megan.”
“We were delighted to receive such a heart-warming message from seven-year-old Megan,” it said.
The Peter McVerry Trust initiated its emergency response procedure ahead of Ophelia’s arrival last Monday.
It opened extra emergency spaces in Dublin city and organised transport to make sure anyone who needed a place to stay could make their way to the shelters.
Some groups were critical of the government’s efforts to protect homeless people ahead of the storm.
Inner City Helping Homeless claimed that the death of a man sleeping rough in Dublin’s Temple Bar early last Wednesday morning “could have been avoided.”
The man had been in an emergency shelter during the storm but reportedly had nowhere to go once it was over.
“ICHH have been asking for the extra 200 winter beds to be released into the system over the last month to prevent deaths on our streets,” the charity’s CEO Anthony Flynn told the Sun.
“Last weekend, the Government’s detailed emergency plan for Storm Ophelia included everything from cattle to garden furniture — without one mention of those human beings sleeping rough around the country.”
