Housing & Homelessness Issues

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Housing is a major cause of stress amongst people with self-experience of mental ill health.  Many people with severe mental ill health find themselves having to remain in the family home beyond a time that is of their choosing, and housing is often cited as their most serious concern.

In many of our large cities, the issue of available and appropriate housing is very serious. Council houing lists are long, and single people, particularly single men are simply not considered a priority. Landlords in the provate rental area are often unwilling to consider letting to people in receipt of benefits.

The HSE has never had sufficient high, medium and low support accomodation. For many people the best hope lies with the voluntary housing organisations.

There are no simple solutions but there is evidence that group-working can achieve positive results. Gathering a number of people together to focus on building a relationship with County Council housing staff and other agencies raises the profile and at least sheds light on the numbers of people in need of proper housing.

It is very important that the person requiring housing ensures they are on the housing list every year. It is very important that all the necessary administrative boxes are "ticked" as small mistakes or missing bits of information can delay or stop progress.

With the backing of a wider group, some landlords can be reassured that a person in receipt of benefit payments is, in fact, a very sound and reliable tenancy option. With the support of a group, people who have not lived independently before can be assisted to learn the necessary skills to ensure a good relationship with landlords and neighbours.

Document Title	Eliminating Poverty: What the European Parliament Can Do
Source	Schizophrenia Ireland
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Document Title	Public Policy, Poverty and Mental Illness
Source	Schizophrenia Ireland
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Document Title	Feantsa - Delivering healtcare to the homeless
Source	Feantsa
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Document Title	Mental Illness - the Neglected Quarter - Homeless
Source	Amnesty International
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Document Title	Sophia Housing Association Survey
Source	Sophia Housing Association
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Document Title	SI Pre Budget submission 2006
Source	Schizophrenia Ireland
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Document Title	SI Pre-Budget Submission 2008
Source	Schizophrenia Ireland
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Link Title	Focus Ireland
Description	Focus Ireland is a registered charity that works to prevent people becoming, remaining or returning to homelessness.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Homeless Agency
Description	The Dublin Region Homeless Executive is provided by Dublin City Council as the lead statutory local authority in the response to homelessness in Dublin and adopts a shared service approach across South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Feantsa website
Description	FEANTSA, the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless is an umbrella of not-for-profit organisations which participate in or contribute to the fight against homelessness in Europe.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Hafal.org
Description	Covering all areas of Wales, Hafal is an organisation managed by the people we support: individuals whose lives have been affected by serious mental illness.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Sophia Housing Association Website
Description	Welcome to the website of the Sophia Housing Association. We are a national supportive housing organisation with headquarters based in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Sophia Housing Association Articles
Description	Sophia Housing Association Articles
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.hail.ie
Description	HAIL is a voluntary housing association with properties in the greater Dublin area. We provide accommodation for families and individuals with a range of housing needs, but primarily for those with mental health needs who need additional support to live independently in the community.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.paveepoint.ie
Description	Pavee Point is a partnership of Irish Travellers and settled people working together to improve the lives of Irish Travellers through working towards social justice, solidarity, socio-economic development and human rights.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.threshold.ie
Description	Threshold was founded in 1978 and is a not-for-profit organisation whose aim is to secure a right to housing, particularly for households experiencing the problems of poverty and exclusion
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.nda.ie
Description	The National Disability Authority, on behalf of the State, promotes and helps secure the rights of people with disabilities
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.depaultrust.ie
Description	The Depaul Trust as a relatively new charity embodies the ethos and values of a 400 year tradition. We are committed to working in a practical, non-judgemental way with people on the margins of society, wherever there is a need, in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.respond.ie
Description	Respond!'s primary object is the alleviation of poverty particularly where it is evident in housing estates. In order to achieve its objectives, Respond! has been at the forefront in Ireland of providing high quality, low cost housing under a variety of governmental and private schemes for nearly 20 years.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.dublinsimon.ie
Description	Dublin Simon Community - Combating Homelessness in Dublin
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.crosscare.ie
Description	Crosscare works to address the poverty of exclusion among Travellers, the poverty of loneliness among full-time carers, the poverty which can befall early school leavers or immigrants due to lack of training and job opportunities, the poverty cycle which drugs can create, the increased homelessness stemming from the accommodation crisis in our city.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	Welcome Home is a charity which helps homeless people
Description	Welcome Home is a registered charity set up in 1990 to raise funds for Fr. Peter McVerry to enable him to provide services for young homeless people in Dublin.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.dublinhostels.org/
Description	Hostels Online is an innovative, exciting new project designed to improve the service single homeless people receive when they contact an advice service, day centre or hostel looking for a bed for the night.
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.nationalhomeless.org
Description	American National Coalition for the Homeless
Link	Click here to visit the site
Link Title	www.dlrcoco.ie
Description	Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council
Link	Click here to visit the site