Our Stories Matter – The Abigail Women’s Centre
Novas’ Abigail Women’s Centre provides the only dedicated female homeless service in Dublin, providing support and accommodation to more than 30 women. The service is located in Finglas.
Despite the growing number of homeless women and the extensive public discourse on the issue of homelessness, the voice of single women remains largely unheard. This was something Novas was acutely aware of and thus The Abigail Women’s Centre engaged in a therapeutic project with the residents, as a means of supporting them to express their experiences of homelessness – how they became homeless, how it feels to be homeless and their hopes and dreams for the future.
The project was designed to have the voices of the women heard and for people to see beyond the label of homelessness, addiction and other stereotypes. A very moving quote from the project highlights the desire of these women not to be defined by their homelessness or addiction – There’s more to me that just a label with ‘alcoholic’ written on it. I am a sister, I am a mother, a niece. I have hobbies and I have dreams like everybody else.
The story and photographic exhibition resulted in 16 women cataloguing their story of homelessness through a written piece and photograph, which symbolised their personal experience. The project has been exhibited in the Centre since.
Three of these stories were recently brought to life by actors in three short films (approx. 2.5 minutes). The actors relay the exact words of the women in an effort to highlight the deep trauma of having nowhere to call home. The selected stories reflect the wide demographic of women accessing the service.
The first film, Baby Shoes relays a story of a young woman who has lost her son through homelessness.
The second video, Notebook explores the deep sense of loss and loneliness caused by homelessness.
And the final video, Boardgames highlights the devastating impact of addiction.
The project seeks to include the voice of homeless women in the current discourse on the issue.
The full Our Stories Matter project can be viewed here:
