Kilkenny’s homeless action services has dealt with more than 200 people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness through the services of the newly established Kilkenny Homeless Action Team (KHAT ).
The team collaborates with the services of The Amber Women’s Refuge, the Good Shepherd Centre and the HSE in itsr bid to combat the problem of homelessness in Kilkenny.
Last year there were 178 referrals to the homeless service and five of those referrals were couples.
Currently the Good Shepherd Centre meets the needs of 120 men a year. It is a home- grown, charitable organisation and is heavily dependent on locally raised funding. Last year the centre celebrated 21 years in business and at this point the centre had met the needs of some 3,500 homeless men.
The policy of The Good Shepherd Centre is to support the person back into independent living as quickly as possible. The centre offers emergency accommodation, transitional housing, a life skills programme and follow-on support.
It works in an interagency manner with Amber Women’s Refuge, Kilkenny Local Authorities, St Lukes, The Gardai, community groups and the community welfare officer.
The South East Homeless Action Plan May 2010 — 2013 was recently adopted by all participating local authorities and it forms a blueprint for service delivery in the region. Waterford City Council was appointed the lead authority and a ministerial order instructed that each region would submit a homeless action plan under the Housing Act 1988.
