Housing charity aiding people with mental health problems calls for funding boost

A charity that specialises in supporting the housing needs of those with mental health difficulties assisted a record number of people last year, warning that additional funding is required to sustain its services.
Hail supported 694 people through its mental health tenancy sustainment services last year, according to new figures from its annual report published on Monday. This represents a 17 per cent increase on its 2022′s record-breaking 589 people.
The charity supports those with mental health difficulties who are ready to live independently in maintaining their tenancy.
It does this through its bank of properties in counties including Dublin, Limerick, and Kildare while also supporting those living in private rented accommodation and social housing.
The charity increased its housing stock by 23 to 474 homes in 2023 and is aiming to provide an additional 300 new homes over the next five years.
Hail chief executive Martina Smith said the charity is providing an “essential” and “cost-effective” service for the State. But she warned that additional funding is required from the Government to sustain the expansion and current level of services it provides.
“Each year we are seeing demand for our housing and support services increase and we expect this to continue,” she said.
Head of support services Julie Cruickshank described the charity — founded in 1985 — as a “niche provider” though it is “at capacity”.
“A lot of service users may have come from homelessness, they may have had a long history of hospitalisation,” she said, adding that “years of instability”, and “exclusion and isolation” is a common experience.
Hail tenants, the majority of whom are aged between 30 and 50, are identified through local authority housing lists while those who avail of other support services are mostly referred from the Health Service Executive.
In 2023, some 1,604 people with a mental health diagnosis were waiting for social housing.
Some service users, however, have spent lengthy periods in psychiatric wards, she said, with challenges in discharging them due to a lack of accommodation.
She said the provision of services can be challenging, particularly when service users become unwell, but “we are contributing to the prevention of homelessness”.
In the few cases where tenancies cannot be sustained, (1 to 3 per cent) “we’ll always work with the HSE and other services to see where the best place is for them” she added.
An emerging challenge is that those with long-term mental health problems or disabilities are living with ageing parents and not on housing lists.
She said demand has been exacerbated by the housing crisis, with many service users having spent “years and years” on lists.
In recent years, the charity has seen an increase in those with a mental health diagnosis and coexisting substance misuse issue while the complexity of cases, such as undiagnosed brain injuries or intellectual disabilities, is also on the rise.