Alan is living in an apartment in Co. Louth after receiving support from Peter McVerry Trust’s housing and tenancy sustainment services in the North-East.

“I slept rough for three weeks – it was a bit hard for me on the streets because my eyesight’s not good for crossing roads,” he says.

He then stayed in emergency accommodation before securing his own place to live, where he was supported by Peter McVerry Trust.

“You have no privacy in a hostel…no privacy at all. I was three months there and then I had to travel to Ardee get my eyes tested. On the way back, my friend who drove me over here had seen a sign: “Apartment to Rent.”

So I took down the number and rang the landlord who owned it.  I then had to wait three weeks until the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) went through and all the forms were filled in and deposits paid,” he says.

Before he became homeless Alan used to keep an aviary and breed birds. Alan is now able to keep birds in his new home again. He says he’s relieved to be settled in his new home.

“I’m more independent – happier,” he says.