ST VINCENT de Paul are hoping for an early Christmas present by securing a further 10 apartments for homeless accommodation in the city. They are in an advanced stage of negotiations with city council for apartments on Clare Street, designed for transitional housing.
The apartments are in a block adjacent to the charity’s St Patrick’s hostel.
Manager of the hostel, Jerry White, said:
“It is part of the process of move-on accommodation and those who move to the apartments will go through our programme.
“It will offer an opportunity for the men to get their lives back together”.
He stated that the location, next to the hostel, would be extremely beneficial.
“It will make it easier for some of the men as they will have our continued support”.
The charity will maintain its emergency accommodation at St Patrick’s Hostel, which opened in December 2002.
It provides short-term accommodation and care services for 47 homeless men.
“The key is that we provide an agreed care-plan which is drawn up with every person, aimed at helping him identify and access the services or skills he needs to move on and live independently.
“Hostels are no longer just about providing shelter and some food, they are a stable force for the person at a time of crisis in their lives”.
Rob Lowth of Limerick Homeless Centre, said that it was a massively positive step.
The extra availability, he added, was possible because of the new social housing leasing scheme, which came into affect in January.
“This is the first social housing scheme which will come under this umbrella, which has replaced the Capital Assistance Grant.
“Instead of providing charitable bodies with a property, a property is leased on a long-term basis at a reduced rate”.
It allows local authorities to enter into a lease arrangements with property owners… properties will be tenanted, managed and maintained by the local authority and rent is guaranteed for the whole lease period
