Pieta House plans US launch to help Irish
The founder of Pieta House, Joan Freeman, said the pilot programme would operate from the Irish Immigrant Centre in Queen’s and, if successful, could be rolled out across the other 10 migrant centres for Irish people in the United States.
Ms Freeman said the pilot was being pitched directly at Irish people in America, as while many saw life there as a potential “pot of gold”, in reality many people experienced periods of isolation or loneliness.
She said that the undocumented Irish, in particular, faced a number of challenges, such as a constant fear of being deported, worries over accessing healthcare, and not being able to travel home for family events, including funerals of loved ones.
The pilot scheme is being run with the aid of €70,000 in funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and additional money being collected through fundraising by the Irish in New York.
Pieta House began work in 2006, when it saw 70 people. In the first two months of this year, it saw more than 1,000 people at its various centres across the country.
Ms Freeman said: “I was in Chicago a few months ago and within 24 hours [of arriving], two Irishmen had taken their own lives, one in Chicago and one in New York.”
Of the pilot programme, she said: “If we start in September we are going to run for a year. We are going to target the Irish before they even put a toe in New York. Then we are marketing to the Irish who are already there.”
She said Ireland was actually ahead of the US in relation to lifting the stigma around mental health issues. She said access to health services in America was often a problem and she said there was a different mindset in the US regarding mental health problems.
She said if the service is shown to work in America, there was also scope for it to be applied elsewhere, citing the 500-strong Irish community in Shanghai, where issues such as the language barrier and huge levels of pollution could affect mental health.
The news of the US-based pilot project comes after Pieta House announced details of this year’s Darkness Into Light event, which will take place in 80 locations in Ireland, the UK, Australia, Canada and in America.
On May 9 at 4.15am people can walk or run a 5km route while dawn is breaking.
More details are available at www.pieta.ie
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