IN THE PAST few weeks, Peter McVerry Trust says it has housed 26 people as part of its Housing First programme, with more expected to be housed during the last weeks of April.
Ireland first signalled a shift away from the traditional “staircase” model of addressing homelessness and towards a housing first almost a decade ago Finland adopted a housing first programme in 2008 and has all but eliminated long-term homelessness there. I’m quite happy, quite emotional to be honest. I haven’t felt this way in a long, long time. You see these keys, they’re going to be handcuffed to my wrist. I’m not letting them go, ever. The charity’s CEO Pat Doyle says there’s always been a challenge accessing one-bedroom apartments to house single people who make up the majority of those experiencing homelessness.