Threshold Head Office, 21 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, DO7 KV61 Threshold.ie | LoCall 1890 43 44 45 | Charity Reg. 20011031

IN THIS ISSUE

From the Frontlines: Owen Duggan, Housing advisor

How your gift is making an impact

One woman’s Legacy of Hope in Galway

Anna faced a shocking rent increase and had no way to pay it. Here’s how your kind donations helped her, and her two children, avoid homelessness.

One morning last November, Anna opened a letter from her landlord notifying her of a rent increase. A huge rent increase. For the modest two-bedroom flat she shares with her two children, the rent was set to jump up from €1,200 to €1,650 a month. A staggering increase of €450.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she says, shaking her head at the memory. “My hands were shaking as I stood there just staring at the letter. I was more than shocked...I was terrified.”

Anna knew there was no way she could afford to pay what they were asking. As a single mother working part time in a Dublin restaurant, she was already barely scraping by and feeling guilty at having to skimp on clothes, food and other basic essentials for her son and daughter.

Her children’s father had left years earlier and sends Anna nothing in maintenance or support. She truly felt alone.

She tried looking for a cheaper place to live, even a one-bedroom where she could sleep on a sofa bed in the living room, but quickly found there was nowhere she could afford to call home.

Terrified at the very real prospect of homelessness, Anna contacted Threshold.

“Threshold were there when I had nowhere else to turn.”

Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, Threshold acted fast. We secured an increased rent supplement payment so Anna and her young family could stay in their precious family home.

The impact on Anna’s life has been immense. “I feel secure at last,” she says. “I have been so scared, feeling powerless, worrying about so many nightmare scenarios. Now at last I can focus on my children, my work, my life.”

My hands were shaking as I stood there just staring at the letter. I was more than shocked...I was terrified.

“I feel secure at last.”

Thank you for your support – as you can see, your generosity changes lives.

My hands were shaking as I stood there just staring at the letter. I was more than shocked...I was terrified.

Tracy is passionate about the vital role that Threshold plays in helping people who are on the brink of homelessness.

“The people we help are the life spring of all our work. These are real stories and real problems faced by brave people every day. Here in Threshold we see a clear link between the challenges so many are facing and national policy.”

Tackling the housing crisis – Threshold’s priorities for 2017

“It’s a pivotal time in Ireland. The scale and depth of the housing crisis has focused hearts and minds. But for the thousands of people in housing and rental difficulties, progress is tiny and slow.”

Threshold has a crucial part to play in making the private rented sector a secure place in which to make a home. In 2017, we’re advocating for:

• Secure homes for people in rented accommodation.

• Rents which people can afford.

• Warm, comfortable and good quality rented homes.

Read more at: threshold.ie

Meet Threshold’s Policy Officer, Tracy Murphy

“The people we help are the life spring of all our work. These are real stories and real problems faced by brave people every day”.

Thanks to your kind support, Threshold has expanded our team of expert housing advisors to help meet the rising demand for our services. Owen Duggan is one of the new faces on our team.

Like all of Threshold’s hard-working housing advisors, Owen deals with an enormous range of different calls every day, from vulnerable people struggling to cope with a recent rent increase to families facing the immediate threat of homelessness.

“It’s very demanding. You don’t know what’s coming next. One of the big problems facing tenants now is rent increases. And it’s clear that this issue is getting worse… every day I talk to people who simply can’t afford to stay in their homes because of a rent increase.”

With our expanded team of expert housing advisors, Threshold can now offer essential support to even more people all over Ireland. In his first few months on the team Owen has already seen just how widespread the demand for Threshold’s services truly is.

“My cases come from all over the country. It’s not unusual for me to be giving advice or advocating for Somebody living in Kilkenny or Louth or wherever they may be.”

Every day I talk to people who simply can’t afford to stay in their homes because of a rent increase.

From the Frontlines: Owen Duggan, Housing advisorPreventing homelessness one family at a time.

Every day I talk to people who simply can’t afford to stay in their homes because of a rent increase.

And even in the short time that he has been here, Owen has seen just how important Threshold’s advice and advocacy can be. Threshold’s helpline is responding to 76 calls every day from people and families on the brink of homelessness.

In many cases a struggling tenant or a young family simply may not be able to effectively manage a crisis situation on their own. In those situations, Owen and our expert team of housing advisors are often the only thing standing between them and homelessness.

“There’s a huge amount of satisfaction in advocating for tenants. And in any typical day you could have a case where you secure a tenancy or remove the threat of eviction.”

The volume of calls that Threshold’s helpline is responding to has increased dramatically. But despite his ever-increasing workload, Owen has seen enough in his time with Threshold to be reassuringly optimistic for the future.

“I’m optimistic, I know there are things that can be done thanks to the continued support of our donors.”

Kind people like you enable our team of housing advisors to respond to 76 calls a day.

Thank you for your generous support.

A big thank you to our amazing supporters from all at Threshold!

Update on our tax appealIn 2016, Threshold claimed over €53,000 in tax back from Revenue in respect of your generous donations. We would like to say a huge thanks to all of you who complete and return your tax forms. You are making your donation go so much further to prevent homelessness.

If you would like to request a tax form and increase your donation without it costing you a cent, please get in touch with Saoirse at Saoirse.Jacoby@threshold.ie or call 01 6353629.

Thank you NUI Galway from all at Threshold!

We’d like to say a big thank you to all the students at NUI Galway for choosing Threshold as one of their charity partners for 2017. In total, NUI Galway managed to raise €15,400 this year!

All the funds raised will go directly towards supporting Threshold and the RNLI. This kind of support makes a massive difference – these funds will help a great many families escape homelessness.

A big thank you to our amazing supporters from all at Threshold!

How your gift is making an impactThanks to your generosity, here are just some of the ways in which Threshold is changing lives.

1,785 families saved from homelessness in the last year alone. This included 3,107 children.

76 calls a day from vulnerable people in urgent need of our support.

Every single day, Threshold saves

5 families from homelessness.

Thanks to all of you who completed Threshold’s Donor Survey in 2016.Your support and generosity make it possible for Threshold to continue helping those on the brink of homelessness – but we always want to know how we could do better. And that’s why your feedback really matters to us.

The results of the survey gave us a vivid picture of why our homeless prevention work is so important to you and why you support Threshold.

Thank you for trusting us to put your generosity to its best use – and for helping Threshold to keep people in their homes.

We’d love to hear your feedback at any stage, so keep in touch! Please contact Saoirse at Saoirse.Jacoby@threshold.ie or call 01 6353629. Thank you.

Whenever Threshold gets words of thanks from people we have helped, we like to share them with you –

because you make all our help possible.

Donor CharterOur pledge is to treat all our donors with respect, honesty and openness.

We commit to being accountable and transparent so that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in Threshold.

We promise we will effectively apply your gifts to us for their intended purposes.

Your gift fights homelessness. I can promise you that we will never forget that people and families who are homeless and those on the brink of homelessness are our number one priority.

Our promise to you I am truly grateful to all of Threshold’s supporters. Every time you make a much-needed gift to Threshold, you place your trust in us to be honest, effective and transparent. That’s a trust we must constantly earn and value.

Threshold Chairperson

Gifts in Wills are absolutely vital to Threshold’s work, and in recent years we have been heartened to hear from more and more people who want us to know that they are including Threshold in their Wills.

Remembering Threshold in your Will has a powerful and long-lasting impact on future generations, helping them avoid or escape the horrors of homelessness.

With a short paragraph in your Will you could help fund the huge range of work Threshold does, all year round and across the country. You could secure homes for families in crisis, you could help us step in and save families from eviction, you

could enable us to stand up for those who may not be able to stand up for themselves.

Threhold currently responds to 76 calls a day from individuals and families facing homelessness. A gift from you in your Will can help us continue to meet that rising demand with confidence long into the future.

In this issue of Homecomings we are extending our special thanks to kind supporters who have chosen to remember Threshold in their Wills.

Legacy gifts live on for generations and have a lasting impact.

Leave a lasting Legacy

Leave a Legacy of Hope

Thanks to one of our extraordinary donors who left a gift in her Will to Threshold, Threshold proudly opened the doors to our new advice office in Galway last June.

And the difference our new home in Galway has made in the last year alone is incredible.

Since June 2016, Threshold has saved 297 families from homelessness in Galway.

And another 3 specialist housing advisors have joined our team. Now, Threshold can offer essential support to even more people at risk of homelessness in Galway.

Many of you supported our special Galway Premises Appeal. Thank you for helping Threshold to find a new home and continue to prevent homelessness in Galway.

Legacy gifts live on for generations and have a lasting impact.

To request your free legacy brochure, or find out more about legacy giving in confidence, please call Cora Ó Liatháin on 01 6353607 or email cora.oliathain@threshold.ie.

One woman’s Legacy of Hope in Galway

From left to right: Hildegarde Naughton TD,

Cllr Frank Kearney, Galway Services Manager

Diarmaid O’Sullivan, Simon Coveney TD,

Sean Kyne TD, Threshold Chair Aideen Hayden,

Mayor Noel Larkin

Threshold Head Office, 21 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, DO7 KV61 Threshold.ie | LoCall 1890 43 44 45 | Charity Reg. 20011031

Our home is so much more than a roof, much more than four walls, more than vital shelter, more than needed warmth. Our home has deep emotional meaning. It’s the place we invented ourselves. Where we grew as children and people. Where a Dad marked his child’s height on the wall. Where a Mother held her new born on that first night out of hospital. Where tears flowed and laughter rang out and happiness abounded. Where conflicts were solved.

The place where people knew, without thinking, that they were human and valued and had a chance at a future. That’s why Threshold is here.

And that’s the precious gift you are providing for generations.

What a home means