Novas Annual Report 2022

Annual Report 2022
“FUNDING PROCEDURES
REVEAL AN ABSENCE OF
UNDERSTANDING OF THE
DAY TO DAY NEEDS OF
THOSE WHO ARE HOMELESS
OR THE PRACTICALITIES
OF PROVIDING HOMELESS
SERVICES.
A VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
We are constantly being bombarded with housing numbers and
statistics. We listen to politicians debating them. The media features
house completions, homeless numbers and political comment on same.
The reality of being one of those statistics is of a person devastated by
their personal circumstances; of wanting to keep their ambitions, of not
losing sight of their dreams.
Emergency accommodation is precisely that; a place to stay in an emergency.
A place to leave behind as soon as possible. ‘Emergency’ is meant to be not
more than six months. Indeed, some years ago voluntary agencies had to
explain individual instances where a client had not moved to long term
accommodation within the six months! Today ‘emergency’ can means
years, not months.
The reality of being one of those statistics is that you are at the end of a
housing queue that gets longer and longer.
Eight years ago our main shelter in Limerick supported more than 200 clients
in that year; helping most to move on to long term accommodation. Last year
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