Extra beds on standby for homeless in Kildare during cold snap - Peter McVerry
66 back up places
The Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity said it has made over 100 additional bed spaces available for its winter and extreme weather response across Dublin, Kildare and Meath.
The charity said it has also extended the hours of its Housing First Intake Team in Dublin with staff on the streets from 7am until at least midnight each day helping people access accommodation.
Pat Doyle, CEO of the charity, said, “So far we have mobilised an additional 35 beds in Dublin, and we have a further 66 beds on standby across Dublin, Kildare and Meath and I am sure many of these will be used in the coming days due to the very low temperatures being experienced by people on the streets.”
“We have also extended the hours operated by our Housing First Intake Team in the Dublin region, with staff now out engaging people sleeping rough from 7am to midnight every day to try to encourage people into services and provide them with transport to get there.”
“We have learned hugely from previous responses such as the Beast from the East and Storm Emma and we now have a set of services with additional extreme weather capacity on a permanent state of readiness, with all the required items needed to make the beds available within an hour of being called upon. This means regardless of it being an extreme weather event, a major incident, or an emergency leading to a closure of another hostel in the sector, we can readily respond and accommodate those in need.
UPDATE:
Kildare County Council said; "Kildare County Council’s Cold Weather Initiative which is operated by the Peter McVerry Trust is currently in operation with an additional 20 beds available throughout the winter period. Given the current conditions An extreme Weather facility with a further 12 beds has been prepared for use and will be deployed if required in the coming days.
"The Free phone number can be contacted at 1800 804 307 Monday-Friday 5pm - 9pm, Saturday & Sunday 12pm -5pm."