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Charity for homeless people From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Simon Community is a charity which helps homeless people, taking its name from Simon of Cyrene.[1] It was founded in 1963 by Anton Wallich-Clifford,[2] who had encountered many homeless people while working for the Probation Service at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London. Wallich-Clifford was influenced by the work of Dorothy Day and her Catholic Worker Movement in the US, and his original vision was to establish a farm and community in Sussex. However, local protests prevented this and the organisation developed as a chain of houses and night shelters run by local volunteers. The Simon Community was co-founded by political activist Eddie Linden.[3]
A trust was established to manage the affairs of the charity but its administration was weak.[4] Attempts were made to transform the organisation into a decentralised federation of homelessness bodies: the Cyrenian Federation and Homes for Homeless People.[1]
Anton Wallich-Clifford died in 1978, but the original community continues where it is based and active in London.[4]
In Ireland, the Simon Communities were founded by a group of Trinity College and University College Dublin students in 1969.[5] It now operates all over Ireland, but particularly in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk and Galway.[6] These organisations partly (about 50%) fund themselves by hosting a number of charity initiatives and events such as the Dublin Fun Run.[7] The remainder of funding comes from service contracts with government to provide homeless housing. In 2009, Dublin Simon celebrated its 40th anniversary.[8]
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