‘I just want somewhere I can call home for my children’

Aaron Mullan is a single father-of-two and has been homeless since 2023.

“Very quickly life changed. I ended up a single father of two,” he told BBC News NI.

Mr Mullan went to the Housing Executive and there was nowhere permanent for his family to go to. They were placed in a hotel in Antrim for five weeks.

“We’d travel an hour and a half each way to school. It took us so far away from any support and cost £17 a day on public transport,” he said.

Mr Mullan added they had “very little facilities”, with no fridge and nowhere to cook.

“My youngest was still drinking from a bottle. I would buy fresh milk but have nowhere to store it.”

Mr Mullan and his children were eventually placed in temporary accommodation in Belfast in October 2023.

The family temporary accommodation service currently houses 27 adults and 42 children.

“I am very fortunate to be here,” he said.

“Having my own cooking facilities felt like I’d won the lottery. I felt like I had a burst of life again.”

However, he said the pressure of being homeless has had a significant effect on his two children.

“My daughter in the mornings doesn’t want to get up out of bed,” he said.

“She is feeling frustrated and she doesn’t have that healthy way to get her feelings out.

“It’s very confusing for them. You can’t set up her room for her.

“If she wants unicorns you can’t decorate. It feels like you’re living in a blank space. You still feel like a guest.”

Mr Mullan said he is worried about where he will be placed next.

“You don’t want to tell people you live in a hostel because there’s that pre judgement, that stigma,” he said.

“There is an underlying shame because in a way you have failed to give the children somewhere secure to live.”

Mr Mullan and his family are among 58,000 people who are homeless in Northern Ireland.

With the sector under pressure – groups supporting those experiencing homelessness said their services need to be protected.

Bernadette Donaghy from Depaul said that having a home provided a sense of belonging and ownership.

“Families that come here to Depaul have been displaced from their families,” she said.

“They have been socially isolated. They don’t know the community, the don’t know where they are being placed and this is where Depaul comes in.”

Charlotte McKee and her son were helped by Depaul’s family services. They had to move out of their rented accommodation because of issues with mould.

“The landlord raised the rent and didn’t fix the issues. I couldn’t afford to rent somewhere else so I declared myself homeless,” she said.

Ms McKee and her son, who has additional needs, were given temporary accommodation at a family service run by Depaul, 18 miles away from her sons school.

“Being homeless definitely affected my son. The way it displays with my son is impulsive behaviour, erratic behaviour,” she said.

“Homelessness was really hard on him.”

Ms McKee travelled on public transport to and from her sons school to “keep some sort of continuity for him”.

The thought of having to one uproot his home life and then two his school life. It made me feel like I was unfit,” she said.

She and her son recently moved into permanent accommodation.

“I can really notice a difference in his behaviour has improved and he’s much calmer,” she added.