Help support the prevention of homelessness in Ireland while also being in with a chance to win some great prizes this Mother’s Day

All donors will be entered into a draw, which will take place on the 4th of March just in time to treat your Mother!  

Prizes include:

-Tickets to Cork Orchestral Society

-Restaurant vouchers

-Beauty Hampers

-Gift Sets

-Cinema Vouchers

-Wine

-And more to come…

We are a group of three part-time Smurfit MSc. Project Mgt. students who are passionate about preventing homelessness in Ireland. We believe in the work that Focus Ireland are doing in this area and are undertaking a number of fundraising initiatives to help raise funds and awareness. 

Focus Ireland Background

Focus Ireland was founded in the mid-eighties by Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy following a research project centred on the lives of homeless women in Dublin.  Sr. Stan understood the importance of involving those people who were homeless or directly affected by homelessness in the development of services for them.

“Focus Ireland works with people who are homeless or are at risk of losing their homes across Ireland. We offer individuals, and families, advice, support, education and housing to help people to have and keep a home. We believe that everyone has a right to a place they can call home and we campaign to address the causes of homelessness”.  

Focus Ireland’s Vision: “Focus Ireland believes that everyone has a right to a place that they can call home”  

Why is having a home so important?

“We believe that having a place to call home is the most fundamental of human rights. ‘Home’ is a powerful word. It means many things to many people. At its most basic, we believe that the word ‘home’ means a safe and secure place where you can truly be yourself. We all take having a home for granted. But imagine if you woke up tomorrow to the news that you’d lost your home. What would you do? Where would you go? What would it mean for your job? What would it mean for your children’s schooling”.  

The Current Homeless Situation in Ireland             

In the week ending the 25th December 2017, there were 8,587 people homeless in Ireland comprising adults and children. This figure includes families who have become homeless, 3,079 of which represents the number of children living in emergency homeless accommodation. The number of families in emergency homeless accommodation has increased by over 17% compared with the same period in 2016.

The official rough sleeping count taken in November 2017 confirmed that 184 were sleeping rough in Dublin and this figure did not include those people in the Nite Café because they could find no place to sleep. The housing crisis in Ireland has worsened the homeless situation because there is not enough affordable housing to meet the needs of the society.  The increase in rental prices coupled with the lack of housing stock has resulted in people and families being forced out of the private rental market and consequently into homelessness.  

Thank you for taking the time to visit our page, we appreciate any support you can give.  

Remona, Patricia and Ciara