HOMELESS CHARITY DEPAUL is opening a 100-bed cocooning unit in conjunction with the HSE and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) as a response to the Covid-19 crisis. 

The unit, which is located in Dublin’s city centre, will cater to those within the homeless population with serious underlying health conditions. 

The service will be managed by Depaul and will be staffed by the HSE and other Section 39 organisations where resources have been redeployed to help with this effort. 

A service user’s age, as well as their underlying health conditions, will be taken into consideration to help identify and support the most vulnerable people within homeless settings. 

These conditions include: 

• Cancer diagnosis or a history of cancer
• HIV diagnosis
• People who have had organ transplants
• People in chemotherapy treatment
• People with heart disease or who have had a stroke
• Chronic respiratory conditions or asthma

The charity has also said it has opened a smaller isolation unit for a capacity for nine people.

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“We are moving swiftly, together with the HSE, DRHE and other statutory agencies, to find cocooning and isolation opportunities for those most at risk within the homeless population,” Depaul CEO David Carroll said. 

“Many homeless services operate on a congregated basis where the ability to self-isolate can be quite limited. This unit will provide those with serious underlying health conditions a secure setting and limit their exposure to infection,” Carroll said. 

The health and wellbeing of those experiencing homelessness is paramount at this time and we are doing all we can to ensure their safety. 

“It is imperative that we do everything in our power to protect the most vulnerable groups in our society during this crisis, in particular those who do not have the means to self-isolate,” he said.