Homeless prevention project ranks in top two
The Foyer in Blackpool, the only facility in the Republic recognised by the international Foyer network, was opened in May 2006.
But it has secured joint second place in an accreditation table of 130 such projects operating in both Britain and Ireland.
The €3 million project, housed in the former Little Sisters of the Assumption convent building, targets young people aged between 18 and 25 who are at risk of homelessness, including those from broken homes, leaving juvenile institutions or prisons.
If offers them accommodation, independent living skills, training and education in the low to medium support unit.
During 2007, 32 residents moved on from the project — 22 of which were planned — with the support of the Foyer staff.
Most moved on to build new independent lives in private rented accommodation.
Foyer manager Barry Waddingham said great credit is due to the authorities for establishing the project.
“It was a bold step but it has proved very successful even after just 18 months,” he said.
It was redeveloped as part of the city council’s strategy to tackle homelessness and is supported by several agencies including the Health Service Executive, the Simon community, FÁS, the VEC, St Vincent de Paul, the City Enterprise Board and the gardaí.
It will be visited tomorrow by Margaret Ritchie, MLA, Northern Ireland’s Minister for Social Development, before she addresses a major housing conference, the Conference of the Isles.
Conference organiser Damien O’Mahony, a senior housing official with the council, said: “It is a mechanism to share best practice and discuss the housing challenges that are common to Ireland and England.”
Construction Industry Federation boss, Tom Parlon, and economist David McWilliams, will go head-to-head followed by addresses from John Fitzgerald, the man leading the regeneration of housing estates in Limerick and assistant garda commissioner Ray McAndrew.
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