The Irish Catholic Autumn Legacy Supplement 2024
Discover how Your Legacy can support Respond’s mission to Build Homes and Improve Lives by including a Gift in Your Will
Ireland is facing a severe housing crisis, with more people than ever before experiencing homelessness. This has placed tremendous pressure on services across the country. Respond works tirelessly, with their statutory partners to provide affordable homes and essential community services, helping families and individuals in desperate need.
How your gift can make a difference:
By including a Gift in Your Will to Respond, you become a vital part of our mission. Your generosity helps us to continue delivering not only high quality homes but also vital services that provide support to people of all ages – from newborns to older adults.
A Legacy Rooted in Faith
Respond was founded in Waterford in 1982 by Father Patrick Cogan (Order of the Friars Minor), with a purpose to provide meaningful solutions to housing insecurity and homelessness.
Since our inception, we have collaborated closely with religious orders to address the housing shortage, including the development of land and the repurposing of former religious buildings where feasible.
Our core values remain deeply rooted in the Franciscan spirit of peace-making, compassion, and community development. These values continue to guide us as we collaborate with religious orders across the country supporting them to preserve their legacy by repurposing buildings to provide homes and essential services. For instance, St John’s College in Waterford, a former seminary and training college, has been transformed into 57 social homes addressing specific housing needs, including age friendly housing. The site also hosts an onsite cafe, conference facilities and offices used by Respond and other local community groups. Additionally, two of our Family Homeless Services in Dublin are also based in former convent buildings. These projects ensure that the legacy of these sacred spaces lives on by serving those in need.
In 1983, Father Cogan opened Responds first housing scheme in Larchville, Waterford. Since then, Respond has grown to become one of Ireland’s leading Approved Housing Bodies, now providing over 7,700 homes to more than 17,000 people across all 26 counties working closely in partnership with local authorities, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and others. We are committed to offering high-quality homes in areas where people want to live, recognising that a secure home is fundamental to improving lives and enhancing health and well-being. Our vision is that every family and individual in Ireland will have access to high-quality housing within a vibrant and caring community.
Respond not only deliver quality homes but also works to improve lives by providing a range of services in the community, for families and individuals including:
6 Family Homeless Services providing emergency 24/7 accommodation to 174 families (240 adults and 250 children) in 2023. Families experiencing homelessness often need ongoing, wraparound support in relation to accessing long term housing, mental and physical health services, family or parenting support. Our Family Homeless services follow a trauma-informed approach.
3 Day Care Services for Older People provide a social outlet, links to support services, meals and provided respite for 227 older people in 2023. These services support people to live independently in their homes and community for as long as possible.
15 Early Learning and School Aged Care (ELSAC) Services which provided community-based affordable early years education and after school services for 507 children in 15 communities nationwide in 2023.
Family Support: We have dedicated support staff who provide needs-led individual support, group programmes, and activities for families to promote social wellbeing and tenancy sustainment. These range from walking groups, parent and toddler groups, parenting support groups, and cookery classes.
Refugee Resettlement services Respond actively works with families to support their integration into their new communities. Delivered through a Resettlement Support Worker and an Intercultural Worker.
Respond has a long legacy of providing high-quality housing in vibrant and caring communities,
be a part of it with a Gift in your Will.
Why leave a gift in your will?
It is important to remember the housing crisis is about people, it’s about families, children and older adults who are struggling. In July 2024, over 14,000 individual’s, including many children, were living in emergency accommodation.
Tragically, some children are even being born into homelessness. Your support can help reduce the trauma they face and offer them a better start in life.
In 2023 alone, 35 new-born babies and their parents were discharged from maternity hospitals directly into a Respond services. Currently, 70 children under the age of one are residing in our homeless services. A gift of any size will make a meaningful difference strengthening our ability to meet the growing demands of the housing crisis. Your support can help us to continue to support families in crisis.
Our Early Learning and School Aged Care services are often located in areas of high socio-economic need, providing essential resources to those who need them most, including parenting support, funding for external trips and necessary supplies. As we see a growing number of neurodiverse children in our care, we are committed to offering personalised support in environments designed to be accessible and inclusive.
Our Day Care for Older People services are evolving to meet the growing needs of older people with dementia, who now make up 42 percent of our service users. To further support these individuals we need additional resources to enhance staff training, expand activities, and upgrade equipment, ensuring our services are more accessible and effective.
With many of our upcoming developments being large-scale, mixed tenure developments including both social and cost rental homes, expanding the scope of our Family Support team will be important to promote community wellbeing and integration helping to create vibrant and caring communities.
We rely on gifts from people like you to make a positive impact on communities nationwide. Legacy gifts ensure that Respond can adapt to increasing demands faced by our communities as a result of the housing crisis and help us to continue to provide housing and community services for generations to come.
Including a gift in your Will to Respond is very straightforward.
It is helpful to have the following information to hand when you are speaking with your solicitor.
Our Registered Office Address: Airmount, Dominick Place, Waterford. X91 A397
Registered Charity Numbers: 20012625. CHY6629.
Cliona Maughan our dedicated Legacy Officer is here to help if you have any questions you can contact her confidentially at legacy@respond.ie or 087 355 6341