Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity, has announced that it will shortly open an office in Cork City to cover the Southern region. The charity, which was founded by Fr Peter McVerry in 1983, has been active in Cork since late 2019.
Pat Doyle, the charity’s CEO said, “I’m delighted to be able to announce that we will shortly open a new office in Cork City to service Cork and the neighbouring counties. We have been active in Cork since late 2019 and we have continued to grow and develop in the region through our partnership with Cork City and Cork County Councils.”
“Our work in Cork is focused on delivering and finding housing solutions for people impacted or at risk of homelessness locally. At present we are working with 28 households, with a total of 68 people across these homes. We are trying hard to do more and deliver more and in particular we are focused on reusing existing buildings to quickly deliver social housing.
Last year in Cork under Repair and Leasing Scheme, for example, we worked to deliver the first two units under that scheme in Cork City. Our largest single scheme to date in Cork is in Youghal, where last year we secured 11 social housing units working with a new property owner to reuse a building vacant since 2008. Our scheme in Fermoy which has 8 apartments also saw an unfinished building brought back into use.”
Cork Regional Office
Mr Doyle said the charity was progressing plans to expand its housing supports in Cork. “We are now in the final stages of preparing for the opening of our new regional office in Cork City centre which will service the Southern Region. We will be hiring for roles in this office, including for our Housing Development and Housing with Supports team as well as a regional fundraising manager.”
“Working in partnership with our colleagues in Cork City and Cork County Councils, we are progressing a number of social housing schemes across the Cork region with a major focus on securing and delivering more one-bedroom homes for single people impacted by homelessness. Over the next 12 months we hope to offer a further 70 homes for people in need.”
