This article is from page 12 of the 2014-11-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
AN organisation that provides assistance to homeless people in Clare says an increasing number of fami lies are seeking their help.
HELP the Homeless and Vulnerable says it has provided food and sup port to three families in Clare in the past 10 days.
The Clare organisation, which helps homeless people in Clare and around Ireland, is holding a number of events in Ennis over the next few weeks to highlight the issue of home lessness.
Volunteers will hold a soup run at O’Connell Square, Ennis tonight at 9pm.
“We are going to have a stand and we will be giving out soup to people that need it.
“We are in touch with quite a lot of people at this time of the year”, a spokeswoman for HELP said.
The event will be followed by a sleep out in memory of the late Josef Pavelka in Ennis town centre on December 22.
In 2013, Mr Pavelka’s plight received national attention when a district court judge described it as a “scandal” that Mr Pavelka was liv- ing in a public toilet in the Market in Ennis. Five weeks after the remarks of Judge Patrick Durcan, Mr Pavelka’s body was found in a lane-way behind Supermacs on Ennis’s O’Connell Street late on a Saturday night.
Mr Pavelka’s remains were buried at Drumcliffe cemetery in Ennis af ter his family did not seek the repa triation of his body.
An inquest subsequently found that the Czech national had toxic levels of alcohol in his system when he died of a heart attack in May 2013.
Volunteers will sleep out in Ennis in memory of Mr Pavelka.
“Its not a fundraiser, its just some thing we’re doing to highlight homelessness and remember Josef.
“There will also be a few musicians playing on the night”, the spokeswoman said.
HELP volunteers will provide Christmas dinner to homeless people at an event in Roslevan on December 25.
Further details are available on the HELP the Homeless and Vulnerable Facebook page.
There are also plans to provide a drop in centre for homeless people in Ennis.