One Dublin mother is on a mission to humanise the homelessness crisis

The death of homeless mother Danielle Carroll in Leixlip in 2017 was a defining moment for Dublin poet Ingrid Casey.

“I knew when Danielle Carroll died that I could do something and that I had to. I felt furious because it was so needless, it was due to a lack of political will. When I was growing up in West Dublin there were housing developments provided for low-income families during times of recession, and prior to that too, in previous generations.”

Filmmaker acquaintances suggested to Ingrid that she make a documentary, and despite having no prior experience, she launched herself into the project, securing interviews with homeless families living in hotels and hubs.

With the help of Bold Puppy Productions and the goodwill of people including Kodaline’s Jason Boland who helped with sound mixing, Through The Cracks was born.

It explores the unique challenges faced by families living in emergency accommodation, both newly homeless in hotels and hubs, and also a family now housed, reflecting on their time in hotels.

Director of the ICHH, Inner City Helping Homelessness, Clare O Conell says the film portrays the long-term damage of homelessness on families.

Clare says that the institutionalisation of families, predominantly women and children, in family hubs, restricts the ability of a family to function and grow organically, and the long-term effects on children are significant.

“We are actively stalling childhoods, preventing the development of friendships, confidence and self-worth and ‘othering’ children within society. We need to learn from our history of institutionalisation and give these children back their childhoods.”

Ingrid believes there are similarities between the Magdalene Laundries and the homeless hubs women and children are being housed in.

“What is happening now with emergency accommodation amounts to continuing institutionalisation of women and children. Knowing that we have implemented such policies historically, with laundries and so forth, it kind of beggars belief that we could allow that to manifest again in the form of hubs etc, that are so unsustainable.”

One of the women Ingrid interviewed said she had worked her whole life and never expected to find herself homeless.

“I had done everything possible to get ahead, but I kept falling behind.  It was just a massive poverty trap. No matter what I did, it wasn’t good enough.”

Other women spoke of feeling overwhelmed by panic and worry for their children and feeling like they weren’t good enough parents.

“I felt like I wasn’t able to provide for my kids. I blamed myself. I’m their mother and I can’t keep a roof over their heads. I felt powerless and worthless, like there was nothing I could do.”

Ingrid says that the homelessness crisis is gendered, with women and children being most affected.

According to research by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DHRE), two-thirds of homeless families are lone-parent families, the majority of which the parents are women.

The average age of adults who are homeless is 32 and the average age of children is seven.

The team behind the documentary hope that the momentum of the repeal movement will encourage people to get behind the campaign to end homelessness.

Ingrid says that she feels the last two referendums have “lit a fire” under her for social change.

“In terms of redressing women’s rights in Ireland as a postcolonial state, we absolutely owe it to ourselves to push for change in current housing policies.”

The team behind Through The Cracks have teamed with Uplift so that people viewing the documentary online can sign a petition to support changes in how homeless people are supported. Ingrid says she hopes the documentary will humanise families experiencing homelessness and that the petition will garner a lot of support.

“My hopes are that it contribues to the ongoing conversation around homelessness that has been carried so well by people such as Rory Hearne and that it will be impactful. As a piece of visual art, I feel that people are very visual and respect the medium,. I hope they will be affected by it as a piece of documentary film, enough to literally move them. It’s time for change!”