At the age of 13 years, Christina knocked on the door of Dublin Simon's homeless service. It was 1995, and the young teenager, who had "a very complicated family background", had left home and was wandering the streets of Dublin.
She was referred to gardaí in an effort to secure one of four emergency beds that were then available for homeless children in the capital at that time.
Over time, Christina fell into addiction, contracting Hepatitis C which resulted in her undergoing treatment at Dublin Simon's Blood Borne Virus Unit.
Nurses helped her detox to enable them to treat her for Hepatitis C.
Christina said that detox resulted in a switch flicking: If she could remain sober for six weeks in a clinic, surely she could end her dependence on alcohol and drugs for life.
She has acknowledged the difficulty of achieving sobriety while living on the streets.
"When you're in active addiction, it's extremely hard to focus on anything. You're literally just stuck in that frame of mind," she said.
With two years of sobriety now under her belt, she recently returned to education, securing a distinction in social care.
Christina now works as a course coordinator with Dublin Simon's Client Development team while continuing to further her qualifications.
"I used to say, if there was no bad luck, I had no luck at all. But now I think positively and expect [good] things to happen."
Christina is using her experience to help others who are seeking support from Dublin Simon, which was established 55 years ago.
CEO witnessed complexity of homelessness change over 25 years
CEO Catherine Kenny has been working with the charity for 25 years, beginning as a volunteer in Christmas 2000.
In that time, she has witnessed the complexity of homelessness change significantly.
"Everybody knew everybody coming through the system. Rough sleepers who had problematic alcohol use who may have had some mental health issues, they were the ones falling through the net at the time," she explained.
Over the years, the profile of people experiencing homelessness has changed, she said.
Ms Kenny explained that few foresaw a time when retirees would become homeless - unable to pay rent.
Twenty years ago, single mothers at risk of homelessness or sleeping on the streets was not a familiar occurrence, nor was the prospect of people leaving hospital with end-stage terminal illness entering homeless services, explained Ms Kenny.
Ms Kenny points out there was "a more functioning" housing structure back then.
"Private rented [accommodation] was available and it was a key delivery in terms of moving people out of homelessness quickly."
Six months was the target to move people on from homeless accommodation - today, people could be in that type of accommodation for years, she said.
Last year, Dublin Simon's Outreach team experienced a 25% growth in interactions which the charity has said reflects a "deepening crisis".
The key focus of the outreach team is to build trust with clients so that they can move them to better situations and eventually to their own homes.
Director of Homeless & Community Services Emma McMillen described "a shift" in the profile of those entering emergency services last year and those engaging with outreach teams.
"The number of women increased. Older people being priced out of rental markets and having to enter our Supported Rental Accommodation, which as someone that has worked in the sector since 2008, that was new for me."
The charity accommodated more than 1,250 men, women and children nightly across emergency, treatment and housing services and provided 350,000 meals.
In October 2024, Dublin Simon opened the first-of-its-kind Health and Addiction Care Facility at Usher's Island, dedicated to providing medical treatment to people experiencing addiction and homelessness.
The collaborative project between Dublin Simon, the Department of Health and the HSE is operating 63 beds.
While there is capacity for 100 beds, further funding is required for all the beds to become operational.
Ms Kenny believes there is a lot of support for the facility which relieves pressure on wider health services including hospital A&Es.
"The potential impact on emergency departments, the potential impact on people's lives, there’s a huge benefit to having it," she said.
Does she foresee the remaining beds being funded to allow them open?
"From our perspective there’s a frustration regarding the administrative adhoc nature of funding, in some respects the budgeting process is one of the biggest challenges we’re facing," added Ms Kenny.
