04.11.2016
Be Part of the Solution – Diocesan Appeal to Raise Funds for Asylum and Refugee Accommodation Programme
A new Dublin and Glendalough diocesan fundraising project to support the provision of accommodation for refugees and those emerging from direct provision has been announced. The dioceses plan to raise €100,000 a year for the next three years to assist in an accommodation programme being devised by the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) and the Association of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland (AMRI).
“Raising €100,000 in each of three successive years may seem ambitious,” Archbishop Michael Jackson commented. “However, we are a large United Dioceses with a significant number of parishes and schools and university colleges. We have shown ourselves in the past willing and able to raise in one year €150,000 for the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.”
He added that by supporting this project, there would be a knock on effect of benefiting the current homelessness crisis as provision of accommodation for refugees and those coming from Direct Provision Centres will ease the burden on existing accommodation and homelessness agencies.
The seeds for the new fundraising project were sown at Diocesan Synod 2015 when there were passionate speeches calling for ‘something more to be done’ about the housing crisis, homelessness and the refugee situation. In response to the request, Canon Horace McKinley, the Revd Olive Donohue and Dr Sharee Basdeo were appointed by Diocesan Councils to explore possible projects. After extensive research and discussions, the committee presented their proposal which was accepted unanimously by councils.
The IRC is Ireland’s only national non–Governmental organisation specialising in working with refugees and people in the asylum process. In collaboration with the Association of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland, AMRI (formerly CORI and IMU), the IRC is in the process of acquiring several properties, both in Dublin and nationwide, that are being donated by the various AMRI congregations. These properties will all require very extensive renovation and modernisation and this is where the money raised by the people of Dublin and Glendalough will be utilised. It is hoped that the initial work on some of these properties will commence in June 2017.
AMRI has requested that properties they donate be used for two purposes. Firstly they wish to provide new, first time accommodation for people waiting to come out of the various Direct Provision Centres nationwide. At present, 3,500 people, one third of whom are children, are housed and waiting in this way. When they are granted leave to remain in Ireland, finding accommodation then becomes the next major obstacle. Secondly, AMRI also wishes to contribute to providing accommodation for refugees, for example Syrian people, coming here under the Government’s recent emergency response. This whole initiative is entitled ‘A Transitional Housing and Resettlement Programme in Ireland’.
In partnership with various State Agencies, the IRC has set out three core areas to underpin and resource the project: Accommodation, Employment and Education. The ultimate aim is to move people on to independent living. The IRC is always very happy and willing to visit and give talks in schools and parishes, and their organisations.
Responding to the proposals by the Diocesan Councils sub committee, an IRC official stated: “AMRI is really delighted to have received this contact from the Church of Ireland’s Dublin and Glendalough United Dioceses. The support of inter–Church bodies is quite essential for this project, as is the whole Church’s public support and voice for those marginalized in our society”.
The Archbishop has written to every parish and school in the dioceses asking that an appeal for the project be made before Christmas. He suggests that funds can be raised through direct local appeal or through a fundraising event.
To contribute to the appeal monies can be forwarded by cheque to: the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, Church House, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6 (marked Housing Appeal). Donations can also be lodged directly to: DIOCESAN FUNDS OF DUBLIN AND GLENDALOUGH, Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin 2, BIC: BOFIIE2D, IBAN: IE50 BOFI 9000 1769 3548 78, Reference: Housing appeal. Donations may attract a tax rebate.
The Archbishop’s letter can be downloaded here.
Photo courtesy of the Irish Refugee Council.