Bentley House

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In 2002, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council invited Crosscare to provide an emergency ‘cold weather’ response to the homeless situation in Dun Laoghaire. The Crosscare Night Shelter was initially located in metal cabins on Tivoli Road, on a site owned by the HSE. While the conditions were less than adequate, the service was warm and welcoming and it proved to be a very popular option for homeless persons in the area. Crosscare opened a Day Service at 1 Bentley Villas, Dun Laoghaire, in 2004, which was an end of row terraced house that had a large garden.

Crosscare sought agreement from stakeholders to provide new accommodation and the site of 1 Bentley Villas was chosen and a radical plan agreed to build Bentley House.

Bentley House opened its doors to service users in December 2006, but was officially opened on September 5th by the Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Denis O’Callaghan.

There are three distinct elements to Bentley House homeless services:

• Emergency accommodation is provided on the ground floor for women and men, up to a maximum stay of 30 nights. A holistic needs’ assessment is carried out with each resident within 48hrs of arrival.
• High Support care is provided to certain individuals living in the apartments, while their individual Care Plans are based on the holistic needs’ assessments.
• Transitional accommodation for those who are preparing for independent living, based on both the holistic needs’ assessments and resultant Care Plans.

Crosscare operates a specific life skills and independent living skills programme for service users aspiring to move on to their own homes.

The programme includes:

• Motivational Thinking
• Recreation and Socialising
• Keyworking and Care Planning
• Adult Education Opportunities
• Individual Counselling
• Health and Wellbeing
• Settlement Support Services

In conjunction with the stakeholders, Crosscare is developing a range of ‘move on’ and permanent accommodation solutions and options for service users, allied to the settlement support services.

To contact Crosscare at Bentley House:
Tel: 01 - 2841983