Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, has launched a new five-year strategic plan which will see the charity deliver 1,200 new social housing units before the end of 2025.
The charity, which operates a number of homeless services and provides social housing across the Midlands, said the region will be one of the primary target areas for delivery under the new plan.
The plan commits to a continued growth of Housing First, a programme designed to tackle rough-sleeping and long-term homelessness, across Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath.
Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, said: “This plan sets ambitious targets to significantly grow our delivery of new homes and also ensures that the organisation remains well-governed, innovative and continues to deliver each and every day for those on the margins of Irish society.
“This plan will see Peter McVerry Trust deliver homes on a nationwide basis. Our focus is very much on small-scale, scattered-site social housing and the Midlands is one of the priority areas that we are looking to quickly ramp up our social housing delivery in.
“The challenge is to secure opportunities which are value for money and can be delivered quickly
“In particular, the plan sees Peter McVerry Trust set the largest target yet by an AHB for homes through the Housing First model in Ireland, as we set out to deliver 600 additional Housing First units by the end of 2025.
“Working in partnership with Westmeath, Offaly, Laois and Longford County Councils, we are growing the Housing First numbers in the Midlands all the time, meaning more rough sleepers are getting housed and supported to maintain their housing. We are also growing the number of units we can deliver for care leavers and other complex-need families.
“Our goal here is to ensure we offer as many sustainable housing pathways for people out of homelessness as we can.
“If we are successful in delivering our target we will become a leading voluntary provider of one-bedroom social housing units in the State over the next 5 years.
“This is very important for the people we work with and the wider homeless population, as the vast majority of homes needed to tackle homelessness are one-bedroom homes.”
Mr Doyle said that growing the charity’s housing provision will continue to go hand-in-hand with delivery of its traditional services and supports.
He said: “The strategic plan is about ensuring that, as an organisation, we remain agile, innovative and most importantly, deliver on our ethos and on the needs of the people with whom we work.
“We will continue to respond as best we can by delivering a range of services and supports in the areas of homelessness, addiction, Under 18s residential care and education and employment.
“We are working closely with key stakeholders in all those areas to identify new initiatives that can respond to current or future needs.”
Mr Doyle said the strategic plan would only be successfully delivered through a partnership approach.
He said: “While Peter McVerry Trust may secure some of the headlines for our work, all that we do is enabled and supported by the State, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and other Government Departments and various State Agencies, as well as Peter McVerry Trust’s own donors and supporters.
“At the outset of this new plan I want to acknowledge all those bodies and individuals who work with us to achieve our joint objectives and, in particular, thank Westmeath County Council, Offaly County Council, Laois County Council and Longford County Council for their support.”
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