Fr Peter McVerry speaks at St Mary's Church of Ireland Nenagh

Do you know what the hardest part of being homeless is?

It is not, as you might imagine, living on the streets or having no money. According to Fr Peter McVerry you can get used to all of that.

“The hardest part of being homeless is knowing you are of little or no value,” said Fr McVerry.

Fr McVerry visited St Mary’s Church of Ireland this week as part of the Confirmation programme.

There he spoke his work, faith and the lessons he has learned from working with the homeless.

THE MESSAGE

Fr McVerry does not believe that anyone is of little or no value. And in his over 40 years working in inner city Dublin, he has created a space where homeless people can get help with dignity and respect.

“The service you provide to people sends a message. You might be giving people a bed but destroying their dignity. They would be better off on the street, said Fr McVerry.

He said the people who visit the Peter McVerry services are often surprised about how nice they are. But it is important that everyone is treated equally.

“They get the same welcome as the president would get,” said Fr McVerry. He began his work in the 1970s, where he worked at a youth club and craft centre.

At the time, most homeless people were teen boys, but one day Fr McVerry met a nine-year-old boy sleeping on the streets, and the work began.

He opened a hostel and took in six boys. From there, more hostels, a detox centre and now they even run small schools for early school leavers.

“We hope by keeping them in schools, we hope to prevent them becoming homeless adults,” said Fr McVerry.

According to Fr McVerry, the Peter McVerry Trust runs more than 25 hostels in Dublin and Kildare and has 1,000 apartments across the country.

LESSONS LEARNED

At Monday’s talk, Fr McVerry said the homeless have taught him many things about life and faith. Firstly, they have taught him to pray with gratitude.

He said that he has come to realise that he was born into privilege and that his childhood was “given as a gift”.

“Life is a lottery. We do not choose where we go to,” said Fr McVerry.

Working with the homeless has taught him not to judge people. He said that when he started his work, people criticised his approach saying he was only feeding a problem.

But Fr McVerry said that the people his organisation have helped have had terrible childhoods, lives that started with drugs, abuse and poverty.

He said that if their starts in life were reversed, any one of the people would have been the priest and he on the street.

“The only difference between me and the homeless is they started life with a disaster,” said Fr McVerry.

The third lesson Fr McVerry told the crowd was the kind of world God would want. He said like many people, he grew up in a church that was all about laws and rules that must be obeyed to get into heaven.

“I reject that God. God for me is a God of compassion,” said Fr McVerry.

He said he reads the gospels differently now.

The goal of life is not to get into heaven, but to look after each other like a family and end suffering on earth.

“Our task is to make the kingdom of God a reality here on earth,” said Fr McVerry.

ANGER

One emotion you might not associate with a priest is anger. But according toFr McVerry, anger gets a bad rap.

“Anger is a very positive thing. Anger and love go together.

“This world is not how God wanted it to be. We should be angry enough to change the world,” said Fr McVerry.

HOPE

The ever-growing number of people in homelessness and never-growing Government response would leave most people feeling hopeless. Fr McVerry was asked if he feels hopeless in his work on the ground. He replied:

“Hopeless? Never.”

He said when he sees a homeless person get an apartment that is all theirs, it is a “dream come true.”

That in doing his small part, he is changing lives, if not the systemic issues disrupting them.

“I've seen a lot of people turn their lives around, and that's the joy of the job. “There’s a lot of sadness in my job but a lot of joy as well,” said Fr McVerry.

However, the veteran homelessness advocate does not put his faith in politicians. When asked if he sees an end to homelessness in the future, he said he doesn’t any time soon.

He said homelessness is 'structural' and while he has a lot of respect for the Minister for Housing, the parties that have governed the country for the past 12 years have not done little to ease the crisis.

When he started his work, he said there were approximately 1,000 people homeless, now it's over 11,000, and that only includes those in emergency accommodation.

Fr McVerry estimates in is twice or three times higher than the official figures.

“Not much of an achievement is it?

“I’ve given up on seeing an end to homelessness anytime soon, but I think we will eventually,” said Fr McVerry.

So what would do it? Fr McVerry said the response needed building apartments as most homeless people are single.

He said modular housing is easy and quick to build and would be of immense help. And finally, all agencies must work together.

He said when the Child Care Act was introduced it gave children the right to roof over their heads.

That went a long way to reducing child homelessness. Therefore he would like to see housing a right enshrined in the constitution.

So, while there are huge problems in our society, they are not insurmountable.

“I am hopeful, but it takes time,” said Fr McVerry.