Fr Peter McVerry has recently received a lifetime achievement award from Meteor, which included a cheque for €100,000, in recognition of the good work he does with the homeless and people with addictions in our society.

I caught up with him recently to talk about the past, present, and his hopes for the future.

Peter, what directed you into this line of work?
By accident, I was working in Summer Hill with young people and youth clubs. I became aware of a small number of youths who were homeless. I decided to open a small hostel for six kids aged 12-16 but when they were over 16 they were out on the streets so we opened a hostel for over 16s, then over 18s, then a detox centre and two drug-free aftercare houses, so the answer is we saw a need but by accident.

Do you feel that your work is successful?
I think that it has helped some young people. For a number of young people we have had a huge impact on their lives, for some very little influence on their situation and for others no effect at all. Overall, I would say in the majority of instances we have made a considerable impact on the lives of those we try to help.

What would you like to achieve?
I would like to ensure that through government policy adequate services would exist and that homelessness would be abolished. So the objective is to do myself out of a job.

What would you say is the biggest block to achieving this?
Well there’s a few: the first being the shortage of long-term housing available to the homeless means that they remain with the same homeless services for many years.

But homeless people have other issues. The inadequacy of mental health addiction services and therapy to deal with unresolved childhood traumas means that people find it very difficult to overcome multiple problems that are facing. We also have to change the attitude of society to homeless people. The homeless are just like anyone else with the same dreams, hopes and fears and are entitled to the same respect and dignity from society as anyone else.

Do you feel there is a lack of compassion in today’s society for the homeless and addicts?
I think that people are scared because they don’t know them. Some can be very difficult and aggressive, but most simply want to be treated no differently than anyone else.

What would you say has changed most about Dublin in the last twenty years?
The breakdown of community– in the past many people who became homeless were known and looked after by the community. With the breakdown of community they now find themselves isolated, alone and dependent on homeless services which can sometimes be very depersonalising. The closure of mental health institutions has led to an increase in homelessness amongst people with mental health problems.

Do you feel there are adequate services to deal with today’s problems?
No. Services have improved enormously over the last ten years because we have money to improve them but there are still enormous gaps and most importantly there is a lack of co-ordination between services. So people go for addiction to one service, mental health to one and employment to another. There is need for much better co-ordination.

Do you think anyone cares?
I think people do care but people feel powerless to know what to do. I often get calls from people to say going in to work they pass the same young person in the same doorway, what can they do? And to be honest I don’t know, apart from giving money to a charity or writing to their local TD but even if they do that the guy will still be there tomorrow. Powerlessness can look like not caring but people do care very much.

What are your plans for the money you received from Meteor?
We need to fundraise over one million a year to keep our services going. So the money will mean a little less pressure to pay salaries, ESB bills, buy food, etc. Everything we need as running costs.

How did it feel to achieve such an award?
I feel a bit uncomfortable; it seems to suggest you’re doing something over and above others. There are people like Alice Leahy in Trust who have been working for as long as myself and are just as deserving of an award like that.

We have a whole staff and by highlighting one individual… well it doesn’t seem right. However I don’t want Meteor to think I’m ungrateful. I’m pleased and happy to remind people that homelessness is still with us.

Welcome Home Charity is a registered charity set up to raise funds for Fr. Peter McVerry to enable him to provide services for young homeless people in Dublin. They raise funds by appeals and events such as a Golf Outing on May 5th and the Wexford Cycle on September 16th.

You can help by participating in these events or by making a donation. Welcome Home, 9 Annsbrook, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, Telephone: 2830745, Fax: 283 0746, Email: info@welcomehome.ie, website: www.welcomehome.ie