DELIGHTED tenants of the charity Alone received the keys to their new homes that were opened in Earls Court, Dublin 8 recently.
Alone, the charity that supports older people to age at home, celebrated the completed refurbishment of the 11 new units with the new tenants.
Cllr Sonya Stapleton, representing the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, attended the launch and visited residents in their new homes.
Alone acquired the units to house older people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness as part of the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland action plan.
The purchase was made possible with funding from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government through Dublin City Council, combined with loan finance advanced by the Housing Finance Agency (HFA).
Since May, Alone has renovated the homes to an age-friendly standard with assistance from Community Finance Ireland (CFI).
Throughout the renovation process, over 150 volunteers took part in 11 corporate volunteer days to paint and clean the apartments in anticipation of the arrival of the new residents.
Over the coming days, Alone staff will continue to move tenants into their new homes.
As tenants these older people will now have security of tenure. Volunteers will provide friendship, social events, and practical supports to the residents.
All tenants will also be offered Alone’s assistive technology, BConnect, if and when required.
Cllr Stapleton said: “Since the purchase of these units in April of this year, Alone has worked tirelessly to provide suitable, age-friendly and comfortable homes for older people in need of permanent accommodation.
“Their journey over the past few months has shown how meaningful impact can be made by such projects and offers encouragement to similar organisations as we work collaboratively to solve the housing crisis.”