An Cosantóir

10 It is an organisation working away quietly in the background, doing good every day to look after veterans in need. ONE exists to support the needs of Irish veterans whether through the provision of accommodation or advice and support in other ways. Wayne Fitzgerald has seen its work first hand as the new Marketing and Fundraising Officer with ONE and a former Editor of An Cosantóir. He estimates that the work of ONE over the years has kept as many as 1,000 veterans off the streets. He explains: "It is ONE's mission to raise awareness for veterans who previously served in the Irish Defence Forces and who have fallen on hard times due to challenges encountered on leaving active duty and readjusting to civilian life. The charity's main objective is to provide the necessary facilities and skills needed to allow veterans transitioning back into civilian life as stress free and easily as possible. "By offering these services, ONE hopes to educate society on the immense contributions made by the men and women who served in the Irish Defence Forces and ensure their sacrifices are not forgotten. The organisation places high importance on the acronym SCAR which underline the charity's offering of support, comradeship, advocacy, and remembrance. ONE hopes that by providing early intervention, they can alleviate social stresses and reduce homelessness among veterans." ONE has helped hundreds of veterans over the years, although it is hard to put an exact number on it. "Our two Veteran Support Officers could be liaising with several veterans on a daily basis and assisting them or putting them in contact with the right agencies or supports. We also have a network of 37 ONE Branches and 15 Veteran Support Centres around the country, so support could be anything from a cup of tea and chatting with old or new friends, to being the first point of contact to asking for help. "When it comes to one of our main goals of helping homeless veterans to get back on their feet by offering accommodation, we can see how many we have assisted over the years, and we estimate that we have kept 1,000 veterans off the streets since the late 1980s, early 1990s. ONE currently has four Veterans' Homes, Letterkenny, Athlone, Dublin and Cobh (with another being planned in Cork City), offering By Tony O'Brien Photos by Wayne Fitzgerald Wayne with Lt Gen Sean Clancy Defence Forces Chief of Staff, and Jacqui McCrum Secretary General of the Dept. of Defence, at the opening of the Veterans home in Cobh, in October 2021 INSIGHT INTO VETERANS AFFAIRS 54 beds a night (Cork City will bring that up to 60 beds) which is approximately 20,000 bed nights annually, rising to 22,000 bed nights when the Cork City House opens," said Wayne. ONE is still expanding its services, with mental health support, employment assistance, addiction counselling and peer support, along with the broad network of support this empowers veterans to begin their journey to recovery. As to the issues facing the people it works with, over the years ONE has had to grow and change but, adds Wayne, it is fair to say the homeless crisis that has affected our country has been the biggest challenge for ONE and which is why it has become its main goal as a charity. "In my opinion, there is still a housing shortage in this country, and it will take years of building and support to get us out of it. There is still a need for ONE to support veterans with accommodation." The biggest cause of homelessness is separation from family, he said. This impacts veterans of all ages and all services. Other contributory issues such as PTSD, addiction, institutionalisation, etc are both causes in themselves but also exacerbate family separation. Not surprisingly, it takes a lot of money to run an organisation like ONE. There are two broad categories of funding: capital and current. Capital is used to develop new homes or refurbish its existing homes while current is used for support services and necessary administration. Funding comes from a myriad of sources such as state agencies, charity partners, and fundraising. The latter includes the Jadotville Challenge, Golf Classic in Cobh, Sleeping Flags, and the annual Fuchsia Appeal which is greatly supported by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces and its members. Asked what the Department or the Defence Forces could do to help ONE's work further, Wayne suggested on a strategic level, the development of a comprehensive Veterans' Policy that would include the support services provided by ONE for veterans. On a direct level, one of the main fundraising revenues is for serving or retired members of the Defence Forces (and the general public), to support ONE with a regular donation from as little as €2 a week from their

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