News

2022 Annual Report Launch

We launched our Annual Report for 2022 on 6th November at Carmichael House in Dublin. CEO Marian Barnard highlighted that during 2022, Anew provided intensive emotional and practical support to 67 women in the Dublin Region, who we could not accommodate due to capacity, eligibility, timing and other complex situations.

We also worked intensively with 14 pregnant women and new mothers in our Supported Temporary Accommodation (STA) in North Dublin, and while six of these women progressed to their own homes, five moved to Family Hubs and three were still resident in in the STA, Marian Barnard noted that Move-Ons for the new mothers and their babies in 2022 were much slower than in previous years due to a severe lack of private rental accommodation and Family Hubs.

“Our staff eventually helped the women secure move-on accommodation, but it was often less than ideal for a new mom and baby, and sometimes they only knew where they were going a day or two before so this added to their anxiety,” she said.

Anew Chair Claude Daboul noted that the need for us to secure a “Step-Down” house for the new mothers and their babies became more urgent in 2022, and thanks to work done by the Anew team and the support of Minister O’Brien (Housing) and Kate Duggan (CEO, Tusla), in early 2023 we secured funding to open a “Step Down” house for women exiting their STA.

“These new mothers are very isolated with little or no support and many are young mothers, so this means we can continue to support them in suitable accommodation through the early days of motherhood,” said Daboul.

Senior Services Manager Norma Fitzgerald spoke about Anew’s Day Services in Dublin City Centre and thanked the Community Foundation Ireland, Argyle Fund for its funding.

Marian Barnard noted the value of working in partnership with fellow NGOs and the valuable support we receive from membership of Treoir, Dublin’s Homeless Network and Child Family Support Networks. She thanked our statutory funders Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and Tusla and other sponsors and concluded by highlighting the effectiveness of the early intensive interventions provided by Anew.

Dr. Maria Tempany and Sinead O’Moore were special guest speakers. Sinead is the host of the award winning ‘Stretch Marks’ podcast and the founder of ‘the brand story’ consultancy. Maria, an Irish doctor and mother of two young children, has authored three beautiful books of poetry on motherhood – ‘A Mother’s Birth’, ‘A Love So Strong’ and ‘On Borrowed Time’.

Anew Welcomes Coercive Control Legislation

As of January 26th, 2022, coercive control is a criminal offence in Ireland. Coercive control is where a person knowingly and persistently engages in behaviour that: is controlling or coercive, has a serious effect on a relevant person, and a reasonable person would consider it likely to have a serious effect on a relevant person.

Anew Joins Children’s Rights Alliance

Founded in 1995, the Children’s Rights Alliance unites over 100 members working together to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child, changing the lives of all children in Ireland by making sure that their rights are respected and protected in our laws, policies and services.

IWD Celebration 2023

Inspirational stories at Anew’s IWD Celebration 2023 highlighted the importance of equity, especially in the context of the pregnant women and new mothers we work with in Anew who are experiencing the huge inequity of homelessness.

#iwd2023 #embraceequity

What’s New with Anew?

Strategic Plan 2023 – 2025

Our Strategic Plan identifies our primary stakeholders as pregnant women and new mothers, in particular those who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. The service evolution of Anew clearly illustrates that even today the mere fact of becoming pregnant can often lead to a temporary crisis with many emotional and practical implications and a very high risk of homelessness.

As the main stakeholder, Anew keeps the mother and baby as the top priority and through its unique service Anew’s main objective is to improve post-natal outcomes. This is achieved by ensuring that pregnant women are supported through their pregnancy and early motherhood, practically through the provision of temporary accommodation and life skills and emotionally through key-working, peer to peer support and counselling.

A top objective is for a rapid exit from homelessness and a move to sustainable and safe long-term tenancy.