Peter McVerry Trust staff and wages

contrary_devil

AulWan wrote: »

Thats hardly a living wage, these days.

If the quoted average figure isn't a living wage then I and a lot of other people should be seeking the help of a charity soon.

eviltwin

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

No.

I’d like to see a better return for 120,000 of taxpayers money to a CEO.

Like any company would.

We keep people safe, we provide counselling, support them through addiction, mental health issues, domestic violence. We have food for the kids, homework clubs, we give people who need it time, we listen to them, we teach them how to budget, manage a home, life skills. We can't get them out of homelessness with the click of a finger but that's not the job. The job is to provide them with emergency accommodation and support to live independently. I do a great job, my colleagues do a great job.

Dial Hard

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That’s what volunteers are for. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Because you can't rely on volunteers for everything. Volunteers are brilliant and are the backbone of many an organisation but they're *generally* well-meaning amateurs. Charities need full-time, professional staff too.

Plumbthedepths

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

The required services can either be delivered by government or an NGO.
If the service is delivered by government it will be a damn sight more expensive than an NGO that doesn't have access to a seemingly bottomless pit of money.

Or, this is just a radical thought, people actually take responsibility for their own lives and house themselves?!

No need for the multiple “Charities” duplicating services.

Plumbthedepths

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

No.

I’d like to see a better return for 120,000 of taxpayers money to a CEO.

Like any company would.

Eoghan Murphy is on nearly 200k including expenses as minister for housing yet the crisis is getting worse. I would have thought for that amount of taxpayers money we would see an improvement. Instead homeless figures ( official) at its highest.

Plumbthedepths

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Or, this is just a radical thought, people actually take responsibility for their own lives and house themselves?!

No need for the multiple “Charities” duplicating services.

Some people can't for many reasons and it's naive to suggest otherwise.

c.p.w.g.w

Raconteuse wrote: »

Average 37000 though. Probably entry level at 25k.

I have a buddy who interviewed for a retail store management position for a big chain who opened on Patrick's Street Cork about 4 years ago...Store was projected to have turnover of €1.6m(Actually in year 1 hit €2.3m)...They were offering €27,500 for 38 hours on salary so in fact they would be working a lot more than 38 hours...

Plumbthedepths

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

Some people can't for many reasons and it's naive to suggest otherwise.

Agree. And they should receive all the help that they need. However, there are too many chancers out for a free ride. The multiple of “Homeless charities” drawing down multiple millions every year, with the most of that money going on wages, leads one to wonder would that money not be better spent on those it was intended for. Homelessness seems to be a very profitable industry.

Plumbthedepths

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Agree. And they should receive all the help that they need. However, there are too many chancers out for a free ride. The multiple of “Homeless charities” drawing down multiple millions every year, with the most of that money going on wages, leads one to wonder would that money not be better spent on those it was intended for. Homelessness seems to be a very profitable industry.

Your issue then is with government farming out services to NGO's , now if you think the state should take back the provision of these services fair play I can guarantee you though the costs would be significantly higher and the limited cover government enjoy would disappear.

eviltwin

The Regime wrote: »

Maybe you should look for a better job?

I love my job. Why would I leave?

LirW

The Regime wrote: »

Maybe you should look for a better job?

Who exactly should work with vulnerable people with a myriad of issues if not people trained for it?
Social work isn't something that'll make you wealthy, it's demanding work, requires long training and the right demeanor to begin with.

downtheroad

[Deleted User] wrote: »

This is an extract from Citizens’ Information listing the main Homeless charities:

Several voluntary organisations get government funding to provide temporary and permanent accommodation for homeless people and to provide advice and assistance to them. Of these, the main ones are:

Simon Communities in Ireland: simon.ie

Focus Ireland: focusireland.ie

Crosscare: crosscare.ie

St Vincent de Paul: svp.ie

De Paul Trust: depaulireland.org

Salvation Army: salvationarmy.ie

Peter McVerry Trust: pmvtrust.ie

Novas: novas.ie

Sophia: sophia.ie

Cope: copegalway.ie

Sonas: sonashousing.ie

Cuan-Teach Mhuire: cuanmhuire.ie

Merchants Quay Ireland provides a range of services to drug users and homeless people, including the Night Café in Dublin.

Threshold and Trust also provide advice and assistance to homeless people.

Some members of the Irish Council for Social Housing (voluntary housing organisations) offer services and

Amalgamate the lot of them and cut down the administration costs, remove several CEO salaries and spend the money on providing shelter and accommodation rather than on payroll.

Jimmy Bottlehead

I'm shocked at the nastiness of some of the responses on here. That the job is simple, that it shouldn't be paid, or paid as much as it is, (and salaries for this position are actually closer to €26k starting on average, not 37k).

Similar to eviltwin, I work for a homeless charity and we are underpaid for what the job entails. Those who work in hostels or on the street have a tough, tough job. It is not handing out soup or washing bowls, as someone ignorantly claimed.

We have to adapt to any situation that presents itself; violence towards us or other service users, serious mental health issues and emergencies, suicide interventions, live drug use, cleaning up drug paraphernalia and body fluids (all of them), drug overdoses, medical emergencies, room checks where you could find anything including dead bodies.

Someone mentioned chucking out homeless people who are violent or abuse staff... In extreme cases, this happens but our role is to help the clients to remain where they are so most of the time, anything less than serious physical assault is written off and they're given a warning. Verbal abuse, intimidation, threats are all such a commonplace happening that we learn not to blink an eye in situations that normal people would find traumatising. This population is so vulnerable that if we threw out everyone who did wrong, our hostels would be empty.

Staff hired in recent times are generally equipped with AT LEAST a degree, masters graduates are common and there are a few that have gone even further in their studies. We are educated, generally experienced and very capable professionals.

We work in shelters, services and hostels that never close, so this Xmas day or new year's eve, remember that there are workers who give up that time with family and friends at home to support homeless people through those times.

Yes, we do it for money and to pay the bills, but as someone else said, there are easier ways to earn a crust. We do it because we want to help and to support those who cannot do it for themselves.

limnam

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

I think what OP is getting at is that it's become an industry which means it's never in their interests to actually solve the problem because then they would be put out of business.

I don't think Peter ever has to worry about the problem been solved.

Mrs OBumble

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I have a LOT of time for Father McVerry but those wages are unreal

Are they genuinely that high ?

What's unreal about them? 37k is pretty low for a skilled worker.

end of the road

anewme wrote: »

Nasty post in the first instance.

agreed, it was also unrealistic.

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

No.

I’d like to see a better return for 120,000 of taxpayers money to a CEO.

Like any company would.

what better return would you like to see now that you know the actual remit of the organisation?
solving the problem won't and can't be a return just to be clear.

Deleted User wrote: »

Or, this is just a radical thought, people actually take responsibility for their own lives and house themselves?!

No need for the multiple “Charities” duplicating services.

if they were able to do exactly that then that is what they would be doing, or would already have done.

jimmycrackcorm

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Pay the CEO €40k a year and watch the charity fold within a year or two.

By that measure then pay the CEO a million a year and the homeless crisis will be solved

Logo

Anyone know of the outcome of the suicide bereavement charity Console, which had an income of €5m (2012-2014) generated by public donations and State funding?

HappyAsLarE

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

I'm shocked at the nastiness of some of the responses on here. That the job is simple, that it shouldn't be paid, or paid as much as it is, (and salaries for this position are actually closer to €26k starting on average, not 37k).

Similar to eviltwin, I work for a homeless charity and we are underpaid for what the job entails. Those who work in hostels or on the street have a tough, tough job. It is not handing out soup or washing bowls, as someone ignorantly claimed.

We have to adapt to any situation that presents itself; violence towards us or other service users, serious mental health issues and emergencies, suicide interventions, live drug use, cleaning up drug paraphernalia and body fluids (all of them), drug overdoses, medical emergencies, room checks where you could find anything including dead bodies.

Someone mentioned chucking out homeless people who are violent or abuse staff... In extreme cases, this happens but our role is to help the clients to remain where they are so most of the time, anything less than serious physical assault is written off and they're given a warning. Verbal abuse, intimidation, threats are all such a commonplace happening that we learn not to blink an eye in situations that normal people would find traumatising. This population is so vulnerable that if we threw out everyone who did wrong, our hostels would be empty.

Staff hired in recent times are generally equipped with AT LEAST a degree, masters graduates are common and there are a few that have gone even further in their studies. We are educated, generally experienced and very capable professionals.

We work in shelters, services and hostels that never close, so this Xmas day or new year's eve, remember that there are workers who give up that time with family and friends at home to support homeless people through those times.

Yes, we do it for money and to pay the bills, but as someone else said, there are easier ways to earn a crust. We do it because we want to help and to support those who cannot do it for themselves.

I’m so surprised you have to deal with all of that. The way people go on that all the homeless folk are salt of de earth fallin on hard times types.

Mad_maxx

mariaalice wrote: »

They are a victim of there own marketing and yes its an industry the charity NGO industry, then you have all the competing narratives around homelessness, but its not as simple as that and I suspect most know that a lot of the homeless are very vulnerable and would never maintain a tenancy without support and may need support all their lives.

St Brendan’s psychiatric hospital at Grangegorman, off the North Circular Road in Dublin. Most date from the 1950s and 1960s, when more than 20,000 people were living behind the high walls of mental hospitals.

Often there is nowhere long term for people who could need life long support to go all the long term mental hospitals have closed however the problem of individuals needing long term support has not.

closing down the old style mental institutions was a horrible act , the much lauded late Mary Raftery was allowed present a horribly biased representation of those institutions , as such the perception is that mental institutions were an evil akin to magdalene laundries , they were not , closing down those places ( at the behest of liberals ) resulted in vulnerable people ending up homeless

Geuze

noodler wrote: »

It really isn't.

Average industrial wage is about 35/36.

It's not terrible or anything of course.

Yes, average earnings are around 36-37k, but if you look at just full time workers, average is 46k.

That includes overtime, bonuses.

Mad_maxx

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

VcVerry seemed to be on every news and current affairs programme I turned on this week bitching and moaning but offering no solutions as usual, he gets a serious amount of money to fund his work so it's on him to make the best use of it.

Meanwhile Brother Kevin and the Capuchin Friars work quietly behind the scenes and have been doing so for the last 40 years with a lot less money coming their way than McVerry has and they don't need to be on the tele every other day either.

the capuchin centre is the only charity i donate to , the likes of simon and the mc verry gang are left wing activist groups

Mad_maxx

anewme wrote: »

I've renovated my home recently and none of the fees I've paid equate to the person being on 37000 pa. Nor should it in my mind.

i regularly employ tradesmen as i own several properties , anyone who can walk and chew gum at the same time in 2019 in the construction sector is on two hundred quid per day , electricians ( reci registered ) are 400 euro per day at the moment , carpenters circa 300

such is the famine of labour out there , wages are every bit as high as during the bubble years

anewme

Mad_maxx wrote: »

i regularly employ tradesmen as i own several properties , anyone who can walk and chew gum at the same time in 2019 in the construction sector is on two hundred quid per day , electricians ( reci registered ) are 400 euro per day at the moment , carpenters circa 300

such is the famine of labour out there , wages are every bit as high as during the bubble years

Self employed Carpenter made me a unit. 1250, fitted in a half day. Reckon materials max 400.

Have no reservations recommending, the work was great.

end of the road

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

By that measure then pay the CEO a million a year and the homeless crisis will be solved

actually no as the remit of the charity isn't to actually solve the issue but to provide services to help people effected by the issue, which is what they do.
a CEO will generally have some experience of running an organisation, someone on 40k generally won't have the experience of running an organisation of a similar size to pmvt, so you aren't going to get someone of that experience level to work for 40 k to run the organisation.
so the logic does not work on your part but does on the other poster's.

SEPT 23 1989

Charity is just another industry

Every street sleeper could live like kings for the rest of their lives if all money donated went directly to source

Plumbthedepths

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

Some people can't for many reasons and it's naive to suggest otherwise.

But the question must’ve asked... with all the resources...the generally increased standard of living... the valuable time of highly qualified experts...why is the problem getting worse?

I had this answered on a visit to Vancouver, where tremendous resources have been put into trying to iron out people’s problems regarding housing and social issues. Both government employees and volunteers work very hard on the issue. Yet there too the problems get worse and worse. The answer, I’m told, is because of relentlessly increasing addiction which is making people’s lives more chaotic. Severe addicts do not want to be away from the street where they can get easier access to drugs. Drugs are being imported/manufactured/developed by a very corrupt sector of the world, indeed a growing segment of criminal bosses and network.

On the days of old, more vulnerable people, those more likely to succumb to severe addiction due to underlying mental illness, were housed in asylums and mental hospitals. Since thrown to living out in the community the criminal bosses have found an increased market for selling self-medication.

Solutions? I dunno.

end of the road

Mad_maxx wrote: »

closing down the old style mental institutions was a horrible act , the much lauded late Mary Raftery was allowed present a horribly biased representation of those institutions , as such the perception is that mental institutions were an evil akin to magdalene laundries , they were not , closing down those places ( at the behest of liberals ) resulted in vulnerable people ending up homeless

the closure of the mental institutions had nothing to do with liberals, in fact, one of the most conservative governments in modern history, the government under maggie thatcher, absolutely supported the closure of such institutions to be replaced with care in the community.
what exactly was biassed about the representation made in relation to the institutions? either what was said was factual or it wasn't. if it wasn't factual, then that would have been found out.

end of the road

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Charity is just another industry

Every street sleeper could live like kings for the rest of their lives if all money donated went directly to source

it won't get to source without staff, who will need to be paid.

end of the road

end of the road wrote: »

the closure of the mental institutions had nothing to do with liberals, in fact, one of the most conservative governments in modern history, the government under maggie thatcher, absolutely supported the closure of such institutions to be replaced with care in the community.
what exactly was biassed about the representation made in relation to the institutions? either what was said was factual or it wasn't. if it wasn't factual, then that would have been found out.

Factual is that a lot of the same vulnerable individuals are not exactly better off now. Sadly.