Following on from a competitive tendering process, the national housing and homeless charity, Peter McVerry Trust, signed the Housing First Contract for the Midlands Region, on Friday January 10th 2020, at Westmeath County Council.

The contract will see Peter McVerry Trust working with Westmeath County Council, Offaly County Council, Laois County Council and Longford County Council over the next three years initially, delivering individual homes for 34 rough sleepers across the four local authorities.

Speaking at the contract signing, Peter McVerry Trust CEO, Pat Doyle, said “Housing First is a wraparound housing service for entrenched rough sleepers. We work with rough sleepers that have been identified by the community, the local authority, and the HSE. We offer them their own key to the door with a complete set of wraparound services and we take them out of homelessness for life.”

“The Midlands contract comes in under the Housing First National Implementation Plan, which is led by Bob Jordan, and is funded through Rebuilding Ireland. This contract is 5% of the national target and over the next three years we’ll be going after 34 rough sleepers across four counties here in the Midlands. It’s a really great day for the Midlands, a great day for Housing First, and a great day for Peter McVerry Trust, which has been an active player in Housing First since its conception in Ireland.”

In addition to being awarded the Housing First contract for Dublin and the Midlands, 2019 also saw Peter McVerry Trust successfully tender to deliver Housing First services in the Mid-East and North-East regions. The accumulation of these four contracts means Peter McVerry Trust is now responsible for delivering 61% of housing and services under the Housing First National Implementation Plan.