Where has the love gone?

When I was in Dublin the other day, I had an hour or so to kill, before the train home. I like to walk around Grafton Street and the Wicklow Street areas, not for the expensive shops, but for the buskers, the street life, the quirky book-shops and the cafes. I always give something to anyone who asks me, because I know nobody would ask for money if they didn't need it. But it not just about the money, sometimes all is wanted is a listening ear.
The last time, I met a girl called Teresa. She was from the North West. Her mother was in hospital, very sick and she was very worried about her. She was pushing a buggy with two babies in it, and told me that her boyfriend had been raping her since she was seventeen. She had found the courage to leave him and now was homeless. She needed to find ten euro a day to go to the 'better' hostel with the children every night. Even this place wasn't great because of the noise on the street keeping her and the babies awake late at night. I know the feeling.
During the day she had to take the babies with her to ask strangers for money. This day she had made the ten euro but no more. She said she would prefer to talk to me than take my money. She needed a friendly ear.
She has gone to everyone and tried everything to get accommodation, but with no result.
I asked her about Focus Point - she shook her head, I asked her about The Health Board, she shook her head, nobody was helping her. What struck me about her was how articulate and intelligent she was. Soft spoken and genuine. A very pretty face a very sweet girl. She is obviously a loving mother as her children looked well-cared for, healthy and quite happy, oblivious for now, to the nature of their lives.

How is it that this beautiful little family are wandering the streets day in day out? How could this be happening? Are people so oblivious, so wrapped up in their lives to not notice. Nobody slows down enough to be accessible, to take the time to stop and listen, or better still do something.

I know that next time I go to Dublin I will be looking out for her, and will be armed with something more useful than a listening ear and a couple of euro. I will take a little more time to try and figure out a solution, find the right caring people who can help her, and insist that she gets what she needs to set up a decent life for herself and her children. I am still in shock about Focus Point - the Centre for the homeless. Maybe there really is nothing they can do. But I don't believe it.
Also I wonder how many like her are out there, blending in with the crowd.

On the verge of homelessness myself for a short while when my daughter was a baby, I got assistance with rent, free nappies, and free milk, bags of second hand-clothes, for several months, while I got on my feet. We lived on a pittance. But it was manageable. Were were poor in one way, but like Teresa, there was an abundance of love for my off-spring and a strong survival instinct. Unlike Teresa, I didn't have to beg. She had the courage to want a better life, but does life have the courage to give it to her. I hope so.