Finders Ireland has chosen its charity of the year—the Peter McVerry Trust, Ireland’s largest provider of Housing First services.

Since 2020, the charity has been responsible for 61 percent of the services delivered under the National Housing First Implementation Plan.

The Housing First model aims to provide a person sleeping rough, or someone who has been long-term homeless, with their own secure accommodation and access to intensive and specialised support services.

Harm reduction model

The charity also runs addiction and recovery services that operate on a harm reduction model, and offer pragmatic, dignified responses to the needs of people misusing drugs. The services include drug stabilisation and recovery, community detox and a residential drug-free aftercare accommodation offering.

Its vision “is an Ireland that supports all those on the margins and upholds their rights to full inclusion in society”. Formerly called the Arrupe Society, the charity was set up by Fr Peter McVerry, a strong advocate for those who have no voice in society. In 2021, the charity worked with more 10,000 people and with 28 local authorities across Ireland.

Commenting on Ireland’s November 2021 homeless figures, the charity said it was disappointed that the number had climbed above 9,000.

Appeal to owners of vacant or derelict properties

In a statement, the organisation said: “We urgently need to secure more one-bedroom homes for people impacted by homelessness and Peter McVerry Trust would appeal to the owners of vacant or derelict properties to contact us to see how we can re-use those properties for social housing.

“We would also encourage the developers who are progressing small scale apartment schemes which contain one and two-bedroom apartments to make contact with us to see if we can acquire some of those units for social housing to help people exit homelessness.”

Maeve Mullin, Finders Ireland’s director, said: “We’re delighted to announce our support this year for the Peter McVerry Trust, an organisation that carries out such vital work in Ireland supporting people out of homelessness.

Vacant and derelict property service

“Vacant and derelict properties are an issue in Ireland and often those properties can lie empty because no-one can identify who owns them. This is particularly the case when someone dies without having any immediate family or a will specifying who they would like to inherit a property.

“We run a service where we locate the owners of the missing property—people who might not realise they are the owners—so that properties can be tidied up and placed on the housing market, ensuring there is potential for homes to be used for social housing.

“Over the next 12 months, we will be carrying out a variety of fundraising activities to contribute to the Peter McVerry Trust.”