Focus Ireland

{{Short description|Non-profit organisation in Dublin, Ireland}}

{{Use Irish English|date=July 2015}}

{{Infobox organization

|name = Focus Ireland

|image = File:FocusIrelandLogo.png

|size = 180px

|caption = Charity logo as of 2020

|motto =

|formation = 1985

|founder = Sister Stanislaus Kennedy

|type = Charitable organisation

|registration_id = CHY7220

|status = Non-profit

|focus = Housing and homelessness

|headquarters =

|location = Dublin

|region_served = Ireland

|membership =

|affiliations =

|num_staff =

|num_volunteers =

|budget =

|website = [http://www.focusireland.ie Official Site]

|remarks =

}}

Focus Ireland is a nonprofit organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that provides services for people who are homeless and people at risk of homelessness in Ireland. It was founded by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985,{{cite book |title=Mná na hÉireann: Women who Shaped Ireland |last=Depuis |first=Nicola |page=127 |year=2009 |publisher=Mercier Press |isbn=9781856356459 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Annual-Report-2018.pdf | publisher = | website = focusireland.ie | title = Annual Report 2018 | date = 2019 | accessdate = 25 May 2020}} and is one of the largest housing and homelessness organisations in Ireland.{{cite web|url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/sister-stan-saved-my-life-focus-ireland-founder-to-feature-in-documentary-980634.html | publisher = Irish Examiner | website = irishexaminer.com | title = 'Sister Stan saved my life': Focus Ireland founder to feature in documentary | date = 9 February 2020 | accessdate = 25 May 2020 }} It provides services in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Sligo, Kildare, Carlow, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford.

The charity's stated mission is "to advance the right of people-out-of-home to live in a place they call home through quality services, research, and advocacy". In 2017 it spent €26.3 million to that end.{{cite web |title=Focus Ireland - Annual Consolidated Statement of Financial Accounts - 2017 | url=https://reports.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FinancialAccounts.pdf | website = focusireland.ie | date = 2017 | accessdate = 25 May 2020 }} Focus Ireland receives approximately half of its budget each year through state funding and raises the other 50% through donations from the public, events and corporate support.{{citation needed|date = May 2020 }}

According to its 2018 annual report, Focus Ireland helped over 15,000 people in 2018 who were homeless or at risk of losing their home. According to the same report, the charity's housing association arm had provided over 1,100 homes to individuals and families in Ireland.

As of May 2020, there were nearly 10,000 people homeless, including over 3,000 children, and Focus Ireland called for a review of the supports offered by the state.{{cite web|url = https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/homelessness-numbers-fall-below-10000-but-charity-anxious-about-covid-19-measures-997083.html | publisher = Landmark Digital Ltd | website = breakingnews.ie | title = Homelessness numbers fall below 10,000 but charity anxious about Covid-19 measures | date = 1 May 2020 | accessdate = 25 May 2020 }} The charity also called for an urgent increase in the provision of social and affordable rental housing, and for the state to move away from its reliance on providing housing in the private rented market.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Focus Ireland's work includes lobbying for changes in public policy and provision for those experiencing homelessness.{{cite web |title=Strategy Plan 2017-2020 |url=https://www.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/FI_Strategy_web.pdf |website=focusireland.ie |date= |accessdate=25 May 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101102542/https://www.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/FI_Strategy_web.pdf |url-status=dead }} As of the 21st century, Focus Ireland has started to focus on preventing homelessness and on a 'Housing Led' approach by providing a secure home first.{{cite web | url = https://www.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Youth-Housing-Partnership-Approach.pdf | publisher = | website = focusireland.ie | title = Focus Ireland Youth Housing | date = May 2017 | accessdate = 25 May 2020 | quote = In recent years in Ireland we have started to lean more towards working to prevent homelessness and recently to take a 'Housing Led' approach, providing a secure home first | archive-date = 17 October 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201017093858/https://www.focusireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Youth-Housing-Partnership-Approach.pdf | url-status = dead }}{{cite web|url = https://www.thejournal.ie/housing-first-homelessness-3208123-Jan2017/ | publisher = Journal Media | website = thejournal.ie | title = Meet the team taking chronic rough sleepers off the streets of Dublin and giving them their own home | date = 28 January 2017 | accessdate = 25 May 2020 }}

Under Focus Ireland's 2017 - 2020 Strategy Plan, the organisation's stated aims focus on preventing homelessness and supporting people who are homeless to move into secure accommodation.