James Flanagan was homeless throughout his childhood.
He and his mother Bernadette slept in cars, on the streets and in hostels until they secured a unit in Stanhope Green in Dublin run by Focus Ireland.
In March this year, James and Bernadette finally moved into their "forever home".
The Flanagans are among 1,100 households that Focus Ireland helped to exit homelessness last year - an increase of nearly 10% compared to the previous year.
According to its latest annual report, there was a 12.5% rise in the number of people helped by the charity overall in 2023 compared to 2022.
Figures from the Department of Housing released on Friday showed another record high in homeless figures.
A total of 14,429 were in emergency accommodation in July, including over 4,000 children.
The real impact of being homeless as a child is "gruesome," according to James.
"You’re on the street, you’re seeing people taking drugs, you're seeing people do anything to survive really," he recalled.
"It was scary at times, because you don’t know what could happen next, especially when you're growing up around violence and drugs, anything could happen really," he added.
James left school aged 15 because his mind was focused on entrepreneurship and building his own career.
He enrolled in the CMS Learning Centre which was "like a mini school", where he did his Junior Cert.
From there he went to the Liberties Training Centre where he became a qualified welder and learned about engineering.
The 20-year-old now works for Intel, where he is a supervisor. He is returning to college this year to increase his qualifications to become a manager.
His mother believes CMS saved James, but from the age of 13, she also realised he was different to some other children.
She said: "I mean, he wasn't going out. He wasn't smoking. He wasn't drinking. He wasn't doing the things that all the other kids were doing, which I was very proud of, you know. Especially growing up, he was surrounded by it."
Now that he has "a foundation to stand on", James is trying to help children and young people who are homeless.
He is a charity ambassador for Focus Ireland.
"When you see it and the kids involved in it, it’s terrible. Why can't they get a place and why is no one doing anything for them," he said.
