Navan’s drop-in service for the homeless is officially launched

Hannah McNamara

A KIND-HEARTED husband and wife team have officially launched their drop-in service for the homeless on Navan's Kennedy Road.

Marking the event on Monday, Mayor of Navan, Eddie Fennessy joined the couple, Jackie McGovern Disney and Paul Disney in cutting the ribbon to officially open the community hub in Navan.

The Joshua Project offers those who need it a space to shower, charge phones and avail of tea and coffee, sandwiches and other refreshments. Additionally thanks to the generosity of the local community, the service users can avail of warm clothes and shoes that have been donated.

Speaking at the opening, Cllr Fennessy thanked the Joshua Project community for taking on this initiative:

"It comes at a time of ever increasing demand for such services. And I'm sure it will be well used and appreciated over the coming years."

He added: "Society can be unforgiving and a cold house for those who slip between the cracks. We should be grateful for this facility, they offer sanctuary to some of the most vulnerable members of society."

Also attending the launch today was Meath Partnership, the Joshua Community and local Cllr Alan Lawes.

Since opening at the end of July, Jackie and Paul have been "blown away" by the amount of support they've received. "It's a real community involved project," said Jackie.

This initiative in Navan is funded by the Joshua Community who focus on 'Life Change'. All those in Leadership in Joshua have experienced life change and have stories to share from when they were previous service users.

As well as locals donating items to the service, Milbrook Market grocery store located beside the hub have donated food. Even the expenses for the construction of the washroom was kindly donated.

Jackie and Paul are running this new scheme alongside a Joshua Community project that gives people tools to reintegrate into society, 'New Beginnings'.

"We are a charity that has been functioning for five years in Bailieborough, Navan and we branched out to Dublin last year. We are a faith based group our motto is that there is no such thing as a hopeless case.

"We offer this programme for sixteen weeks where we try to reintegrate people from all kinds of backgrounds back into society."

There weren't enough candidates to run the program in Navan over the past two years, however the organisation are expecting this to change and the program to be introduced to the town in the near future.

Founder of the Joshua Community, Liam McNamara said that recently Meath Opportunities for Training (MOT), a training initiative that assists people who are in recovery from an addiction, have invited them to be on the board.

"This will give us the chance to publicise our programs to a wider community who need our help."

The shower service for the homeless is open every Monday from 10am-2pm.