The hunt for a home - Community group seeks rental location for refugee family

A small northside community organisation is scouting the city for a house to home a refugee family as part of the Community Sponsorship Ireland programme.

St. Luke’s Welcomes is a small community group, founded in 2019, to welcome a refugee family to Cork City.

The team are now pushing to find a house to rent in Cork. The group is part of a country-wide movement finding homes and providing support for refugee families resettling in Ireland.

For the next three weekends (beginning 12 February), the group will be displaying a model of a house at the Coal Quay Market and handing out flyers in the hope of finding a suitable property.

Maria Bateson, Chair of St. Luke’s Welcomes said: “Over the last few years, the group has worked really hard to fundraise and to complete all the necessary training [for the Community Sponsorship Ireland programme]. We have been somewhat limited by pandemic restrictions, but with things opening up again we’re really keen to find a house so we can finally be approved to welcome a family to Cork.” 

The group needs to find a two or three-bedroom house or apartment in Cork City in order for their application to be approved. St Luke’s Welcome is taking part in the Community Sponsorship Ireland programme, with the support of NASC, the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre.

SUPPORT

The members of the community group will be on hand to provide practical support for the family from registering with a GP practice to enrolling children in local schools.

Bateson explained “We’ve been proactively contacting estate agents and postering around the St. Luke’s area but unfortunately despite some promising leads, we haven’t been able to secure a house yet.

“I think it might take the right type of landlord, one who wants to be part of bringing Syrian or Afghan refugees to Ireland and who has a property to let for two years or longer. The landlord has the comfort of knowing that this family is supported and that there are funds to pay rent while the family's HAP application is pending. In a way, this Valentine’s Day we’re looking for our perfect match!” 

"We’d also love to have some new members on board, so we’d urge anyone interested to pop down to the Coal Quay market to have a chat with our members.”