Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Dublin Office / 18 Nicholas Street, Dublin 8 00353 1 453 7111 / T depaul@depaulireland.org / E www.depaulireland.org / W
Belfast Office / Ravara House, 1 Fitzwilliam Avenue Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 2HJ 028 9064 7755 / T
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Interviews and stories written by Claire Mitchell. Photographs by Tim Millen, Bill Smyth, Sam Gordon and Depaul Ireland Staff and Volunteers.
Kerry Anthony MBE, CEO Depaul Ireland, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE, Mark McGreevy, CEO Depaul International
In 2012, Depaul Ireland celebrates its 10th Anniversary. This booklet celebrates how, over the course of 10 years, Depaul Ireland has grown from a small night-shelter project in a disused army barracks in Dublin, to a thriving all-Ireland organisation well-known for its innovative approach to homelessness. This booklet brings together 10 stories from people, both inside and outside the wider Depaul family, who played an important role establishing Depaul Ireland. We hear about the challenges within the homeless sector in Ireland in the early days, the struggles and achievements of setting-up in Dublin, then in Belfast and throughout Ireland. We also hear 10 stories from the services across Ireland, as staff members, volunteers and Service Users reflect on their daily lives working and living in Depaul Ireland’s projects. We hear stories of lives turned around, and stories of people taking small steps towards change. As Depaul Ireland reflects upon the last decade, and looks forward to the next, there is much to celebrate. We hope that hearing the stories of the people that helped bring Depaul Ireland into being, as well as those who are the life-blood of the organisation today, helps to mark, honour and take stock of the last 10 years of work. 03
Service User, Dublin
Depaul International has its roots in the work of St. Vincent Depaul and Louise de Marillac who, 400 years ago in Paris, set about working with those who were the most marginalised and excluded in society. Their work was about actions not words. They were champions of justice. Today, Depaul International aims to remain true to this ethos, seeking to actively engage with those who are excluded elsewhere.
This was followed in 2003 with the opening of Aungier Street, a low threshold service for street drinkers. In 2005, Depaul Ireland expanded its services into Northern Ireland, with the establishment of Stella Maris, another ‘wet hostel’ in Belfast.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF DEPAUL IRELAND
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
A BRIEF HISTORY OF DEPAUL INTERNATIONAL
In 2001, Depaul Ireland opened in Dublin as a result of an invitation from the Irish government. In Dublin in the 1990s, it was difficult to gain access to hostels if you had complex needs. A culture of no alcohol and no drugs in hostels meant that those who where most in need of supported accommodation were those most likely to be denied it. In 2001, Mark McGreevy (then CEO of Depaul Trust in the UK) was on a sabbatical in Ireland and was asked if Depaul Trust would do something for IV drugusers, as no local organisations at the time wanted to work with this group. Out of this, and with the help of the SVP, Dublin’s first hostel for drug users, Clancy Nightshelter, was born.
Today Depaul Ireland runs 15 services throughout Ireland. Many are run in partnership - for example with the SVP, or the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Depaul Ireland is a member of the Homeless Network and the Council for the Homeless NI, working within strategic frameworks as determined by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Other partnerships include Túath Housing, Helm Housing, Newington Housing Association and Crosscare.
Depaul UK (formerly Depaul Trust) was established in London 1989 by Cardinal Basil Hume, who opened part of Westminster Cathedral Buildings to rough sleepers. From this, Cardinal Hume brought together concerned members of the Vincentian families, and with the support of the Daughters of Charity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Passage Day Centre, the Depaul Trust was born. From those founding roots, Depaul International was formed in 2004 with the aim of tackling homelessness on a global level. Depaul International now has subsidiary groups working with homeless and disadvantaged people in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Ukraine and the USA, and soon to be in France.
Service Users, Dublin 05
Sir Trevor McDonald was the presenter of ITV’s News at Ten for nearly 20 years. He has been a patron of the Depaul organisation since 1989.* ‘My observations about homelessness, I am afraid to say, were from the back of a rather comfortable car being driven home after News at Ten. I watched people sleeping rough and I thought, especially when the weather turned past autumn, ‘My goodness, how do people manage this existence?’ In 1989, I was asked to become the public face of homeless charity Depaul and I jumped at the chance. Whilst it does not provide people with an eternal home, Depaul Ireland gives them the skills, the wherewithal and also comfort and understanding. We are prepared to give people time. There is no rule that says that you must leave after a certain time. There are some who you know will take a very, very long time to be reintegrated into society. We don’t drop them because of this. We find a place for them. There are others who will benefit from getting a chance to get back into wider society. We do everything to encourage that, and there are some rather shining examples of people who have made the transition. Stella Maris in Belfast is a wonderful place, and there are some really great characters there. It isn’t a straight line towards salvation, but people do improve their lives. One man told me, almost in tears, that it was the first time that somebody had taken an interest in him. The curious thing about it is that the atmosphere is surprisingly upbeat. I don’t quite know how to describe it: how pleased the people seem to be, to be there. I think that society is not civilised unless it reaches out to people who can’t fend for themselves. We all need assistance at some stage of our lives. Some of us are lucky to get it. Others don’t, and fall through the net. *Adapted from an interview with Mark Hennessy, The Irish Times - 25/03/11
I was invited to join the Board of Trustees of Depaul Ireland some years ago by Larry Tuomey who I had served with on the Dublin Board of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. I was familiar with the early projects where the Society had invited Depaul Trust (as it was then known) to provide a more intense level of support to complement the voluntary efforts of the Society for people with acute needs. On becoming a Trustee, and more recently as Chairperson, I learned about the remarkable growth of Depaul in serving the poor in a wide range of settings but always faithful to our Vincentian values and origins. I was particularly pleased that despite the rapid growth of the last 10 years, Depaul has retained its commitment to the complementary roles of full-time and voluntary workers. A consistent feature of all aspects of contemporary life is the need for high standards of accountability and governance. This is no less important in serving homeless people and others in need of our support than in any other aspect of public service. The Trustees who have given their time to implementing and overseeing the highest standards of governance at Depaul Ireland are to be congratulated for their contribution to the development of the organisation. In particular, I would like to thank my predecessors as Chairperson, Patrick Murray and Herbie Graham. Depaul has made an enormous contribution to the quality of life for large numbers of our fellow citizens in Dublin and in Northern Ireland. Sadly, the need for our services has grown even more rapidly in recent years. I am confident that the management and staff, the volunteers and Trustees will continue to meet that challenge in keeping with the Vincentian ethos that drew us to this work. Frank Allen
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE and his wife visiting Service Users in Stella Maris, Belfast.
We asked 10 people within this wider support network, many of whom were instrumental in the establishment of Depaul Ireland, to tell us about their experiences…
NOBODY CAN DO IT ON THEIR OWN
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
Depaul Ireland has always been fortunate to have a strong community of support – from statutory funders, to the Vincentian family and the wider Depaul organisation, as well as many external friends and supporters. Nobody can do it on their own.
01 Mark McGreevy is CEO of Depaul International. He was seconded to Dublin in 2000 and laid the foundations for Depaul to come to Ireland. ‘In the year 2000 I'd been with Depaul in the UK for 10 years. The Trustees agreed that it would be useful for me to take a sabbatical and recharge the batteries. My daughter Hannah was very small at the time and my wife and I decided to go somewhere close to home so that friends and family could visit us. I had already looked at projects of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland and met with Mary Higgins from the then Homeless Initiative, subsequently the Homeless Agency. I wrote to Noel Clear, National President of the SVP, Larry Tuomey, the Dublin Regional President, and Liam O'Dwyer, the National Coordinator of the SVP and they agreed that I could spend 3 months with them, reviewing their own homeless provision and youth services. It was a very enjoyable time living in Portmarnock, driving around Ireland, meeting lots of wonderful people, and working in the SVP offices on the New Cabra Road. I made some friends for life.
Towards the end of my 3 months' stay during the winter of 2000, 2 young heroin addicts died of hypothermia in the centre of Dublin. At the time there was no emergency accommodation available for active drug users and I was one of a team of people who contributed some thoughts on a possible cold weather shelter for the following winter. I returned to London and 6 months later I was sat at my desk when Tony Duffin from the Homeless Agency rang me to ask whether Depaul would be willing to set up and manage this proposed cold weather shelter. We agreed on the basis that there was nobody else willing to do it, but we thought it would only be a 3 or 4 month commitment. Ten years on Depaul Ireland is the largest charity in the Depaul Group and it continues to grow to meet need. Its strength has always been in its original partnerships with the Vincentian Family – the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian Fathers. That partnership has allowed us to stay true to our values and in particular our ability to be action-focused and prepared to take risks. I'm very proud of what Depaul Ireland has achieved in such a short time and my thanks in particular go to Pat Doherty, its first Chief Executive, and his successor Kerry Anthony, as well as all of the Trustees and staff who have shown such commitment.’
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Larry Tuomey is a member of the International Council General of the SVP. He is Secretary of Depaul Ireland and Treasurer of Depaul International. ‘I was President of the SVP in Dublin when I first heard of Depaul. In 2000, I met with the Trustees of Depaul Trust in London and visited projects there, which gave me a picture of Depaul and its activities. This was expanded in discussions with Mark McGreevy (then CEO of Depaul Trust) when he came to Dublin on sabbatical and evaluated some SVP projects for us.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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Together with Noel Clear, National President, I was privileged to be associated with the invitation to Depaul to set up in Ireland and to collaborate with the SVP in relation to work for homeless people. This was enthusiastically received by the Trustees of Depaul Trust and came to pass towards the end of 2001.
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In extending this invitation, we were influenced by the shared ethos and values which Depaul and SVP had in common as members of the Vincentian family; by the high standards of professionalism evident in Depaul’s work; by the governance model used and by Depaul’s willingness to engage with the most vulnerable (and demanding) of homeless people. Key Worker and Service User, Dublin
Paddy Murray was the first Chairperson of Depaul Ireland. ‘Little did the Trustees of Depaul England realise where their decision to send Mark McGreevy to Ireland on a sabbatical would lead them. During the 3 months Mark spent in Ireland, new relationships, friendships, dreams and opportunities flourished and as a result, Depaul’s international development was underway without a ‘business plan’ in sight! Dublin was Depaul’s first venture outside of England and what an exciting and satisfying time it was to prove for all involved. An integral part of the Depaul philosophy, since its founding in 1989, had been that in order to serve the poor and the most disadvantaged there was a need to take risks. The experience of Depaul Ireland in its early months demonstrated this emphatically and Depaul’s Trustees, staff and supporters alike proved up for the challenge. Depaul Ireland’s first Board meeting was held in Dublin in November 2001.The Board was made up of Trustees from both Dublin and London. Dublin was represented by Fr Sean Farrell, Noel Clear (Deputy Chair), Larry Tuomey and Sr Rita Yore (Treasurer). London was represented by Tim Haigh, Sr Ellen Flynn, Lady Elizabeth Arnold and Paddy Murray. The acting Chief Executive was Mark McGreevy until Pat Doherty joined in 2002. Our first project was Clancy Nightshelter in the Barracks which subsequently moved to Blessington Street after the Irish government had decided it was a success. Thanks to the support of the SVP, Back Lane followed, as did Tus Nua (women leaving prison) and Aungier Street (street drinkers). Until this time Depaul’s projects in England had been focused on the young and homeless. Taking on this new range of projects with its older and street drinking client base, was at the time a leap into the unknown.
This may not seem much of a challenge or a risk today, but I assure you it most definitely was at that time. We were totally underfunded, but awash with commitment and the desire to help the most needy: risk taking was the order of the day.
The first joint project was an invitation to Depaul Ireland to manage the SVP’s nightshelter in Back Lane (an open access emergency 74 bed hostel for men established in 1915). After almost 10 years of fruitful partnership there, I can safely say that the SVP in Back Lane has no regrets about the association which has enabled the night shelter to offer a service to homeless men that has more than kept pace with all the regulatory and social changes in the decade and maintained a standard of care that is comparable to the best in the sector in Dublin.’
In 2005 we opened an office in Belfast as a subsidiary and our first projects were ‘Drive Ahead’ and ‘Atlantic House’ (we managed this on behalf of the SVP). Our first Board of Trustees in Belfast consisted of Sr Maura McCullen, Sr Nuala Kelly, Larry McArdle, Dr Frances Beagon and Paddy Murray. The Chief Executive was Pat Doherty supported by Brian Higgins. In commenting on Belfast, I must mention Stella Maris a project for street drinkers. This accommodation was developed to a very high standard and it seemed to us that our clients fully appreciated this and responded accordingly. During the following years the Dublin and Belfast organisations grew closer and closer together to the benefit of its client base and the Depaul organisation. In December 2005 Herbie Graham took over as chairman of Dublin, in 2007 Kerry Anthony took the reins as Chief Executive and the organisation and the services it provides have gone from strength to strength. My memories of Ireland and the Depaul team are special but I would like to make particular mention of Larry Tuomey who from the very beginning smoothed the path to get us up and running and is still doing so today.’
Service User, Dublin
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‘On 10-11th December 2001, I visited Clancy Barracks and had some discussions with the Homeless Agency about realistic timetables. Dublin Corporation had agreed to do the works needed for the building, and the Homeless Agency agreed to advertise jobs within the Irish sector for the project workers and deputies. Depaul advertised in England also. Volunteers were advertised through the SVP in Ireland, the Vincentian Fathers and the Daughters of Charity, and through a contact of mine working in USIT World, a student travel company. All produced great interest, and interviews and information days were set up. Charlie Eldred, from a hostel in London, agreed to be the Project Manager. When we ran into an obstacle – it was impossible at the time to get insurance – the SVP stepped in to offer support. We struck a deal that they would employ the staff at the project and sub-contract the work to Depaul. The project was then covered by their insurance. In January we started training, and finally opened the project mid-February 2002.
I met many of the young people who came to the project in the first few weeks. They were not only very appreciative of the project, but were also full of praise about the way that staff respected them as individuals. For example, many were surprised that staff would knock on their bedroom door before entering, or that they were not searched when they entered the building. People had a range of issues including intravenous drug use, poor health and medical issues, chaotic life styles and a range of histories such as abuse, being in care, coming from broken or violent families. They were truly the unwanted. They were barred from all other projects, and were sometimes moved on from a place they were sleeping rough. Some had been abused as they slept rough. After a period of stability in the project, a visible change could be seen by way of less chaotic behaviour and a willingness to engage with their issues. Some started to talk about coming off drugs or getting resettled, or even making contact with their family again.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Una Barry MBE, has been the Deputy Chief Executive of Depaul UK since 1997. She was instrumental in the set-up of Depaul Ireland in 2001.
The impact of Clancy on the voluntary sector in Ireland has been permanent. Other agencies will now work with this client group and have started to look at need in more innovative ways. The quality aspects of this project have had a lasting impact on other agencies. The client group itself has had opportunities that would not otherwise have existed – to come off drugs, to settle down into routines, to resettle and become part of society. Public perception has changed due to the willingness of Depaul Ireland to put the project into the limelight in the media, with staff and young people telling their stories. Without the will of Government to fund the project, and without the support of the SVP, Clancy would not have materialised. The project showed the benefits of a model of development and partnership building across Europe, and of strengthening the Vincentian family across countries.’
Service User, Dublin
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One year later, 5 or 6 agencies tendered to the Homeless Agency to establish a wet hostel for chronic street drinkers in Aungier Street. For me this showed that Clancy had worked – that the culture was changing. We had started to demonstrate that there were new and different ways of engaging with people with extreme needs. When we were invited onto the Board of the Homeless Agency in 2004, we knew that we had been accepted as an integral part of the sector in Ireland.
Service Users, Dublin
05 Sr Ellen Flynn is a Daughter of Charity and is currently the Vice Chair of Depaul International. She sat on the Board of Depaul Ireland from 2001-2006. ‘I had been heavily involved in homelessness in London due to my job at The Passage and with Depaul UK. When we came to Dublin, there were some similarities with where London had been some years before. In this sense we could see what the issues were going to be, and were able to position Depaul Ireland to deal with them. But there were important cultural differences too. Travellers, for example, were not such an obvious issue on the streets in the UK whereas there was crossover between rough sleepers and this group in Ireland. Since then there has been much migration – to London as well as to Dublin – which presents new issues for all of us. My first impression of Depaul Ireland was that Clancy Nightshelter was an incredibly innovative project for Dublin at the time. It was a real trailblazer for what then happened within the homelessness sector in Dublin. It also marked the beginning of diversification within the wider Depaul organisation. Whereas we had concentrated primarily on young people in the UK, the projects in Ireland were for people of all ages, some were for women, whilst others were wet houses for street drinkers. Ireland brought this diversity to the Depaul group, which we have in turn built upon as we’ve expanded into Eastern Europe.
Vincentian values are clearly central to my role in Depaul, and part of my role as Vice Chair of the International Board. Depaul International has done a lot of hard work to articulate these values to a wide audience, and our experiences in Ireland have enriched this debate. Of course when it comes to values, there is always work to do. It’s a living charism that has to be nurtured. I loved my time in Ireland. I have Irish roots, so it was a particular pleasure to be there. I loved my colleagues on the Board. The relationship with the SVP was instrumental to the process and it was interesting watching the Board develop its Vincentian values. In the early days it was very exciting getting the projects off the ground. There was a lot of creativity. To some extent we were transferring learning from one context to another, but there were important cultural differences, so it also felt like virgin soil. It was wonderful to be part of something that was vibrant, new and growing. As Depaul Ireland approaches its 10th anniversary, there is a huge amount to celebrate, and there are many reasons for hearty congratulations. There are also lessons to be learned looking back and this opportunity for celebration should be fully lived, learned and experienced for the future.’
Service User, Dublin
‘I worked for the Depaul organisation for 18 years, initially with the Passage Day Centre, then with the Lord Clyde Nightshelter in London, later moving to Newcastle upon Tyne to establish the first Depaul Trust region outside of London. In 2002, I moved back to Ireland and helped establish the organisation here. There were a lot of differences between the UK and Irish context. The work I’d been involved with in the UK was more about prevention and working with young people at an earlier stage of homelessness. It was a real challenge to work with more chaotic forms of homelessness, and with people with chronic forms of alcohol and drug use in Ireland. In a way we had to become a substance misuse service as well as a homelessness organisation. Our projects in Ireland were also for all ages and this was learning curve for us. Back in 2001, nobody else in Ireland wanted to work with Street Homeless young people or with chronic IV drug users. The Depaul Trust opened Clancy Nightshelter on Island Bridge, Dublin and proved that you could work successfully with this client group.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Pat Doherty is Head of Services with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. He was CEO of Depaul Ireland from 2002-2007.
So many things have touched me about the work of Depaul Ireland over the years. I remember being shocked when I first walked into Clancy, seeing the Service Users and thinking ‘what are we doing here?’ But the phenomenal dedication and commitment of the staff there soon reminded me why we had come. Setting up in Belfast was very special, as street drinkers there realised they finally had a place to go. I’ve always been touched by how people rally around one another in services like Aungier Street and Back Lane – there is such a sense of community between Service Users. I see Depaul Ireland as a movement. The staff have really become involved with the Vision, Mission and Values of the organisation. It’s about putting Service Users at the centre of the work, rather than expecting them to conform to a particular model of homelessness. It’s not about institutionalising people, but about respecting their dignity and talents. I like the analogy that each individual has their own candle, a shining light. Some people are not able to look after that flame for a period of time, so we look after it temporarily, in order that we can give it back to them when they are ready. I feel privileged to have been the first CEO of Depaul Ireland and look back with pride to see what people can do if they dream. I wish Kerry and future CEOs all the best, as I truly believe Depaul has a long and much needed future in Ireland. 13
Mary Higgins is a Management and Social Policy Consultant. In 2001, she was Director of the Homeless Agency in Ireland. She reflects here on the opening of the Aungier Street service in 2003. ‘In Dublin in the early 2000s people slept rough because there was a real lack of appropriate accommodation. Hostels weren’t open for people to use during the days. In most hostels people had to be inside by 6pm and couldn’t leave until 8am the next morning. This wasn’t workable for heavy drinkers – most of whom were barred, or who chose to exclude themselves. Active drug users were also barred from hostels. Street drinking was a significant problem and the Homeless Initiative commissioned some research on the needs and possible solutions for street drinkers. ‘Under Dublin’s Neon’ made it clear that we needed to establish long-term supported accommodation for them. This was agreed and in the meantime it was decided to open a shelter where they could live and drink on site. The idea was that allowing alcohol consumption in a controlled and supportive environment would reduce the chaos, risk and harm street drinkers caused to themselves and to others. This was the first time such a facility had been provided in Ireland and in keeping with its policy on new services, the Homeless Agency put out a competitive tender for the provision of a wet shelter.
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Duke Special is a musician based in Belfast. He has been a friend and supporter of Depaul Ireland for 5 years.
‘I remember first hearing about Depaul Ireland through a musician friend. The fact that they ran a wet hostel caught my attention. It seemed like an interesting, progressive and realistic way to deal with the problem of homelessness and alcohol. The fact that Depaul Ireland are working with people who are to some degree beyond abstinence, just seemed like a very human way of working.
I’ve done quite a few things with Depaul Ireland now. First I did a free gig at the Christmas market in Belfast, with boxes for donations to Depaul Ireland. There was a bigger gig after that, at St. George’s Market, where we had Depaul Ireland volunteers collecting with buckets outside and another donation box at the merchandise stand. A collaboration that meant a lot to me was the commemorative CD of Ruby Murray’s songs that we released in 2011. Ruby Murray was Ireland’s first pop star – a superstar really. She died an alcoholic. When she was first having problems, everybody brushed her off. But alcohol devoured her, and she died at 61. I knew I wanted to record some of her music, and I knew that I wanted to do it with Depaul Ireland. Their ‘Service Users’ stories reflect some of Ruby’s struggles. And like with Ruby, there is a lot of creativity out there that tends to be overshadowed by people’s relationship with alcohol. The CD was sold with note-cards of artwork from Depaul’s Service Users. We wanted to celebrate their individuality and talent.’
Their work resonated even more with me because of the job I do. The music industry is known for its excess, and I understand the difficulties that alcohol and drugs can create. Excess is almost celebrated in the music industry, so it struck a chord that Depaul Ireland were offering a realistic way of working with the fall out of this.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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Depaul won the tender largely because it had direct experience of providing such services in the UK, but also due to its evident commitment to meeting the needs of Service Users, putting these at the heart of everything they do and providing genuinely low threshold services. Another thing that Depaul Ireland brought to the sector is its approach to service delivery – a systems approach that ensures it adheres to very high standards. By the early 2000s in Dublin we were beginning to think seriously about quality assurance, and had produced a handbook, ‘Putting People First’, in 1999. But I think that Depaul was a little further ahead in this process, and their example has spurred the rest of the sector on. Over the last 10 years the nature of homeless services in Ireland have changed significantly. There are now a number of wet shelters and low threshold working is accepted as a vital part of overall service provision. I think this is due in no small part to the success Depaul Ireland made of Aungier Street. It showed us how well it could be done. And this has taken a lot of people off the street.’
Duke Special visiting Depaul Ireland's tent at Electric Picnic Music & Arts Festival
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Brian Rowntree CBE is Chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
‘My initial contact with Depaul Ireland was when it was establishing Stella Maris in Belfast in 2004. I was impressed with the level of innovation. Depaul Ireland had a clear vision, and was prepared to accept the challenge of working with a particularly vulnerable group of homeless street drinkers. The wet hostel was unique in Northern Ireland and some saw it as a step too far. But Depaul Ireland had a strong model of low threshold working and its practices were way ahead of many organisations in the UK. What also struck me was that as well as setting out its own objectives, Depaul Ireland was flexible and was prepared to adapt its proposals to sit within the Housing Executive’s Homelessness Strategy. Working in an all-island context is increasingly important – not necessarily in a political sense, but because there are no barriers to social and economic vulnerability. There are key issues around social mobility in both jurisdictions. Depaul Ireland operates within an all-island policy framework, taking best practice from the Republic of Ireland to improve on its work in Northern Ireland, and vice versa. While other organisations also function successfully in the 2 jurisdictions, I think that Depaul Ireland stands out for its active promotion of solutions on an all-island and international concept. Also it brings together organisations that are looking for strategic partnerships, and this is critically important and adds a lot of value to the sector. The next 10 years will bring many new challenges to the housing sector. With the collapse of property markets, the increased cost of attaining finance to purchase property, welfare reform in the UK, and the lack of provision of new homes, we anticipate serious problems around affordable housing and homelessness. We also live in an ageing society, where the number of vulnerable people will increase in the years ahead. We need to deal with these issues through strategic partnerships – working together across health, housing, education and justice. Depaul Ireland’s vision is critical in the years ahead. Innovation is going to be the order of the day. Statutory bodies and the third sector are going to have to work ever more creatively and cooperatively. Depaul Ireland will not have all the answers to our problems, but I think it will be a key facilitator of solutions.’
‘Clancy Nightshelter, for drug-using rough sleepers in Dublin, was only meant to be a 3 month cold-weather project. We found a site in Clancy Barracks, and moved in just weeks after the army had moved out. In the early days, conditions were Dickensian. The office was a tiny room with a huge mantelpiece, one desk and a tiny computer. At our first meeting, 5 of us – the sum total of the staff at the time – took turns to sit on the desk. Then we went and cleaned the Barracks. We put chipboard dividers up inside to create rooms. There was a single bed in the middle of a huge lecture hall upstairs that served as the staff sleepover room. The floor below was the old armory, which had lines drawn around where weapons had once hung on the wall.
Brian Higgins is currently Senior Development Manager. Brian started working with Depaul Ireland in their first project, Clancy Nightshelter in Dublin in 2001.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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Despite these conditions, the project was extremely successful. There were no deaths on the street that winter. And so we were asked if we could keep the project going. We then moved to new premises. It was like Steptoe and Son – moving things in our own cars, a borrowed night bus, the Service Users helping us. I think a real can-do attitude developed out of this. Five years later, we put together the idea for Stella Maris, Belfast’s first wet hostel. It was difficult at the beginning – people didn’t think that what we were proposing could be done. There was a lot of mobilised opposition from the local community. I remember going through lists of potential Service Users and asking if we could take the ones that no-one else wanted – the tougher the better. Everyone thought we were mad! And when we set up Drive Ahead, we asked the interviewers to select the 10 people who needed the most help. We’ve really tried to stay true to our original vision, working with the most vulnerable people in society.
Service Users, Belfast
We don’t claim to be ‘the be all and end all’, that ‘we will end homelessness’ and ‘turn drinkers into dukes’: But we do say that we’ll try to help reduce drug taking and drinking, and work with clients towards a more independent future. Our support is not conditional – people make their own choices. But we work with people to help them take control over their own lives. I find it ironic, that coming from such a slap-dash beginning, that we have developed into the organisation that we are today. I remember walking into a meeting in Dublin in 2005, where there were 40 people in a proper room, and I thought ‘wow – this is big!’ Now there are over 200 of us, and over 75 in Northern Ireland alone. It’s not a fluke that we’ve been successful. It’s because we’ve been able to maintain the integrity of what we’re doing. It’s been an experiment that has gone really, really well.’
Service User, Dublin
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We asked 10 people who spend their lives using the services, and making them work, to tell us what Depaul Ireland means to them…
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Sam is a Service User in Stella Maris in Belfast. He has been living there, with a few breaks, since the service opened in 2005.
Paul Brennan is a Project Worker in Cloverhill Family Service in Belfast.
‘I started drinking when I was 14 – just to be one of the boys really. We were the Kelly’s Corner Skinheads – the KCS. We listened to Bad Manners and Madness, and wore 14 hole Dr Martens with our jeans rolled up.
‘We work with 18 families, providing short to medium term accommodation. A majority of cases come from a breakdown in sharing – from teenagers who get pregnant and can’t stay at home, to women and children who become homeless as a result of domestic violence. Some men come here too, as part of a couple, and lots of kids. Many of the kids are on the Child Protection Register – they’ve often suffered emotional and physical abuse or neglect.
I’m 46 now. I’ve been on the streets since my 30s. I used to sleep in a graveyard on the Falls Road; 9 of us slept there. It was brilliant. We all looked after each other. But it was dangerous. You had to sleep with one eye open in case someone came along and hit you, or stabbed you, or robbed you – or raped you if you were a girl. We used to look after the girls. You could go to the Welcome Centre to get cleaned up during the day, but there was nowhere else to go at night. There was nothing else to do but try and find somewhere warm. Of the 9, most ended up here in Stella Maris. Most have died in here too. Life in here is good. It’s not perfect. Sometimes people start shit. Sometimes you can’t be bothered talking to anyone. But it’s good really. Other hostels I’ve been to didn’t work out. There was no drinking. I like drinking. But I can’t have wine or vodka – they don’t agree with me. Sometimes I’ll go out drinking and get sick. I drink Carlsberg in here. It’s the lowest in sugar and it’s best for my diabetes. I’d probably be dead if I wasn’t in here. I can’t live on my own. I have diabetes. I take fits. The staff in here are magic. Even though they drive fancy cars, they put their mind on us. Plenty of times they’ve been checking on me every half an hour, and they’ve found me lying on the floor having a fit, and they get me to hospital. Only for them I’d have been found lying dead somewhere by now.’
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
STORIES FROM THE SERVICES
Services are the life-blood of Depaul Ireland. Each service is home to many personalities – project workers, Service Users, volunteers and managers – who make Depaul Ireland the interesting and vibrant organisation that it is today.
There are no typical stories really. I remember one girl who was 18 when she came here. She’d been sexually abused, was in a violent relationship and had a young child. She partied like mad. We did everything we could to help her, but she just didn’t want to engage. Eventually it became a child protection issue and we had to call social services in. They removed the child. It was such a stressful situation for the mother, and for the staff involved as well. But we were able to maintain our relationship with her throughout all the problems. At first she was really angry. Then she went into party mode. But quite soon after, it hit her that her child was gone. We then worked with her to do everything we could to help her to get her child back. She started to engage with drug agencies, she began to take care of herself and her flat, she worked on her self-esteem, and she started looking for work. In the end, she got her child back. She now lives independently in West Belfast and is doing brilliantly. It’s the most rewarding thing about this job – when people go on to do so well. We try to deal with people where they’re at. We don’t judge anyone, or force our morals on them. But we try to support them and help them take positive steps in their lives. We help them learn how to cook and manage money. We get people in to run courses, or to give beauty treatments – to help with their confidence, and to show them they are not worthless. We tell them that it’s not normal to be abused by men, and help them see that they can have good relationships in the future. Most people leave feeling empowered, with a plan for the future. I love this job. Every day is different. There are so many new challenges, and I love being able to help people. The ethos of Depaul Ireland – to work with the most vulnerable in society and help give them a stake in their community – sits well with my own values. There has been so much investment in me as a person – every training opportunity I’ve asked for, I’ve been given. You really feel that people at the top genuinely care about their staff as well as their Service Users, and that goes a long way.’
Service Users, Dublin / Belfast
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Foyle Haven Mural
03 Joe Reid is 27 and is from West Belfast. In 2008, he participated in the Drive Ahead Programme run by Depaul Ireland and the SVP. ‘If you saw me before I did Drive Ahead, you wouldn’t believe it. I was really anti-social before. I was on so much drink and drugs that my mind was blank. I’d sleep all day – I’d go out at night and come back three days later. I’d fallen out with my family. No-one had any time for me. I shut myself away from people and my confidence was gone. Drive Ahead changed me within just a couple of months. Even in the first week I felt different. I’d been to see drugs counsellors before, but they could only talk about drugs, they couldn’t give me the drive and ambition that I needed. The people at Drive Ahead kept at me – Brian would call me in the morning to get me out of bed, until I got into the habit of it. Marie and Brian have both been amazing – the support they’ve given me is unbelievable. When I left the programme, they still checked up on me. They contacted my ma and da and helped me put my family back together. I’ve great relationships with my 2 kids now. Even today I know I could pick up the phone to them if I needed to. I’d always had this idea for a go-kart business in my head, but I’d no idea how to make it happen. Drive Ahead started me off, then I did a course with InvestNI, and finally set up the business in 2008. It’s kids’ go-karts. I do birthday parties and summer schemes for kids between 4 and 10. It’s a big inflatable track and four electric cars. I get a real buzz out of helping other kids now – especially the ones that are scared or don’t think they can do it. I love the look on their faces when they get it. I feel happier now – doing something for other people. Since 2008, everything has changed. Now my drive for life is just unbelievable. Five of my old mates have committed suicide in the last 3 years. It’s a big problem in this area. I would’ve been on this track too, but Drive Ahead gave me a chance. I’ve 5 cousins applying to get on the programme now. They see that there’s no holding me back – I’ve found my confidence and I know how to use it now.’
Peter, Dublin
04 Peter is a resident of Sundial House in Dublin. He featured in a film ‘Sláinte’ in 2007 made by former European Voluntary Services (EVS) Volunteer Federica Lotta (with Edurne Bargueno Vida). ‘I’ve been living in Sundial House since the day and hour it opened. I was living in Aungier Street before. I used to be always out working – collecting scrap. They made a film about it. I saw the film in a place near Ballsbridge – it was jammed – people were queuing up everywhere. There wasn’t a seat to be got in the place. I thought it would just be us that were interested, but there were a lot of strangers, people from outdoors, there as well. We do a lot of art here. Artists come in and do a class. I like to make things from plastics and wood and things that I find. I paint flagons, empty cans and bottles, and decorate trees with them. The bright colours make things look nice. I made a nativity out of wood – wood is my favourite thing to work with. Art passes the time and sure what else would I be doing but sitting here drinking and working on this beer belly?’
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Orla McAndrew is the Volunteer Coordinator for Depaul Ireland in Dublin.
Patricia Rice is a Volunteer at Stella Maris in Belfast.
‘I volunteered for 4 years in the befriending programme before coming to work part time and then full time with Depaul Ireland. Initially, befriending began as a pilot project for people who moved from Back Lane hostel into independent accommodation. These ex-residents battle additions, managing money and social isolation. Volunteer befrienders meet them for coffee, spend time with them and encourage them to follow their interests. For example we might suggest a course to someone, and then accompany them on their first day. This programme has grown exponentially in the last 5 years and in 2010 there were zero returns to homeless from this group. This extra support really helps people sustain independent living. There are so many success stories.
‘I took early retirement from my job as a teacher last year. I had always wanted to volunteer. I think it’s a luxury to choose to do something that you love every day.
We have different types of volunteers here at Depaul Ireland. There are 10 full-time EVS volunteers each year, split between the south and north, who come through the Youth in Action, a European Commission funded programme for lifelong learning and volunteering in Europe. There are also part-time volunteers and student placements. We currently have over 250 volunteers across all of the projects. They are all ages, from all walks of life and come from all over the world. Volunteers play such an important role in the organisation. They have a very special relationship with the residents. They have time to sit and talk and get to know people. They volunteer from 2 hours to 30 hours a week and bring energy, enthusiasm and optimism which the rest of us thrive off. We’d be lost without them. Volunteers’ roles are initially quite open, and we try to develop their work around their interests. For example, we have someone who was interested in aerobics and she set up a class for women in Sundial and Orchid House. We didn’t know whether anyone would go, but it has been really popular. Another volunteer ran a boxing class in Back Lane, which was great because it helped residents address issues around their health, nutrition and wellbeing in a really informal way. We have a number of volunteers who specialise in art – the residents love that. Music is one of the most popular activities – one classically trained violinist volunteer has had to learn all the old Irish songs, and of course the Eagles, to play for the residents! In Clancy, one of the Service Users started slam rapping with a volunteer poet during a poetry workshop. Three more Service Users are learning the guitar. It’s so important not to underestimate the potential of residents to learn new things. We try to let volunteers know how important they are to us by having volunteer evenings to say thank you, and through the volunteer blog we set up on our website. In the future, we’d love to see some more Service Users becoming volunteers. So many Service Users want to give something back – and if anyone knows the job, it’s them.’
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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Stella Maris has become one of my favourite places. I go there every Tuesday, make coffee, and am welcomed. I consider the residents of Stella to be my friends. I knew they accepted me when they began to call me by my name. If I don’t go on a Tuesday, they ask where I was. We’re interested in each other’s lives. We talk about my children, and their children. We eat lunch together. At first I thought it might be difficult to be accepted, but they see I respect them, and they have welcomed me into their home – because Stella is their home. I’m also beginning to be involved in some befriending work. That’s when someone is well enough to move on from Stella, and we visit them in their new accommodation. One of the residents has moved into his own place in Belfast and we went to see him the other week. He was waiting for us with tea and scones. Life outside Stella can be quite lonely, so he was happy for the company. Sometimes help with small things, makes a big difference. He says it’s good to feel that he’s not alone. We took a trip to Newcastle a few weeks ago, with one of the Service Users and a former Service User. Sr Nuala and I took them to visit the grave of their friend – they had looked out for one another. The men had brought flowers with them. And then we went and had fish and chips on the seafront. We wanted to make sure that friends were not losing touch with each other. We’ll maybe take them fishing soon, or go for a walk around the waterworks. It’s very humbling to volunteer at Stella, and also a great privilege to be trusted. I feel that the work here is bearing witness to God’s children, even if it’s just a matter of sitting beside someone for a while, or providing a listening ear.’
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Sam is a former Service User from a variety of Depaul Ireland projects in Dublin. She has been living independently for nearly a year.
Gaye Linehan has been a Project Worker in Clancy Nightshelter for 6 years.
‘I used to live in a house in Blanchardstown. I found my father dead in the house and 3 years later my mother passed away there too. I had to get out of that house. There were too many good and sad memories. I called the Sheriff to board it up.
Aungier Street is what saved me. It was a wet hostel, and I couldn’t believe it when I went in and saw people drinking. I loved that I didn’t have to sleep rough anymore. My key workers in Aungier Street, and in Orchid House, helped me get my dignity back. I got my teeth done, I had showers and fresh clothes, proper meals… They also helped bring my family together, helping me send emails to my daughter in Australia. I was still drinking though, and eventually I got very ill. I blanked out and ended up in hospital. I couldn’t believe it when my daughter flew in from Australia. My other daughter was brilliant too – I was lucky to have amazing family and friends.
‘The work we do here is very low threshold. We usually take in active IV drug users who are not welcome anywhere else. We’re really the last port of call for people. For our Service Users, the drug is number one. Many have been ostracised from their families. They’re lucky if they have 3 black bags of belongings – usually they lose everything in a few days. They don’t care much about possessions, but it’s the little mementoes, like photos of family members, that can’t be replaced. There’s still a soft heart beating underneath the tough exterior.
I was a chronic alcoholic at the time. I started to sleep on the streets and in carparks. I’d have 6 cans of Stonehouse for breakfast, and that was only to start the day. When I think back to that time, I see how crazy it was – it scares me. I moved into a hostel for a while, but it was like a concentration camp. If they smelled drink on you, you had to sit on a bench all night long. I couldn’t stay there and started sleeping rough. I slept rough for 12 years then. When I was on the streets I’d always be in trouble with the Garda. There were a few warrants out for me – mostly for being drunk, and then I wouldn’t turn up for court. One day the Gards just picked me up, and I ended up in jail for 4 months.
When I got out of hospital I’d nowhere to go, so I went back to Orchid House. But something had changed in me. I drank cranberry juice for 3 months. I don’t know where I got the willpower!
Service User, Dublin
My family visited a lot. A room became available in Tus Nua and I moved in and it was brilliant. The healthy meals in here made a big difference to my body. Eventually my key worker helped me to get my own place. It was like a dream come true – one of the happiest days of my life. I’ve been off the drink for 2 years and 3 months now. I have a great support worker. My liver is perfect again. I’m doing exercises to tighten my beer belly! I’m thinking about running a marathon. I’ve done a few mini-marathons for charity already – I really want to give back what has been given to me. Now I have a life. I love being independent. In a while I’ll be ready for the workplace – I’d love to do gardening. If I got a place in a Community Employment scheme that would be the icing on the cake.’
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Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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We’re a strong team here in Clancy. Many of us are in our 40s and 50s, so there is a more mature experience. We would expect certain behaviours from people, but we don’t accept them. We’re able to joke with the Service Users about the state of the youth today, and challenge them about manners, which they respond well to. It’s the only bit of home life they have. But working here, you also have to be prepared to be abused from a height! Usually people come in high. If it’s heroin, they just sleep it off, but if they’ve been taking other things as well, you’d be checking in with them constantly – you wouldn’t know what way things could go. But that’s just part of the Depaul ethos of meeting people where they’re at, which I love. One of the highlights for me each year is the Christmas dinner. Sr Maura joins us, John (one of the project workers) dresses up as a waiter, and we have gifts for people. The presents are small things like toiletries, a sweatshirt or underwear – but they’re like children waiting on them! It’s an uplifting time and spirits are high, but it’s also sad when you see that for most of them on Christmas morning, this is as good as it gets. There have been a few success stories from Clancy over the years. One guy is now doing a fitness course at college. But most people we see time and again. After people have stayed with us for 6 months, we let them go for 3 months, to shake up their routine and give them a chance of living more independently. But many people come back quite soon after this. The suicide rate amongst IV drug users is high, but it’s quite rare for us to lose someone on site. Although between 20 and 30 people we know have died outside of the project over the last few years, which is heartbreaking.
Service User, Dublin
I love the work here. You really pull out all the stops to help people. You have to have an open heart.’
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Rachel-Rose O’Leary is the Artistic Support for (LNPOTS). This is an art project which connects professional artists with Service Users of Depaul Ireland.
I recently completed my first year studying Visual Arts Practice in IADT. Although I enjoyed it enormously I was anxious that somehow I hadn’t chosen the right line of work. I was shocked at how self-orientated art can be and began to feel like I had drifted from what I always wanted to do – help others. At the start of the summer, I answered a call for artists that had been sent out by Depaul Ireland. Although I hadn’t finished college and wasn’t fully qualified for the position advertised, I told them that I would love the opportunity to be involved on a voluntary level. I became the artistic support for LNPOTS, and helped out in Scheme with the artists Aoife Desmond and Susan Leen. The art programmes provide an opportunity for Service Users to learn a new skill, and really enable Depaul Ireland to raise awareness about its work and the issues of homelessness.
Aoife Desmond ran a photography workshop with a group of formerly homeless men. We did site visits to St Stephens Green and the Phoenix park to capture places where the men might have slept rough, or that would be suitable for rough sleeping. The visits became very personal as the men began to recall the times they may have spent in the area. Some of their stories were incredible. We developed the photos in a darkroom. Everyone was so delighted by the process that many have considered even getting a membership to the Gallery of Photography in order to have access to the space. Susan Leen ran a print-making workshop in a variety of services. The Service Users were told to focus on their dreams and aspirations and create an image with that in mind. I think the workshop was quite therapeutic as it encouraged the Services Users to think about the future in a positive light. I was blown away by the skills that the Service Users had, and was really impressed by the creative, expressive atmosphere that Depaul Ireland has fostered in their services. The time I’ve spent working with Depaul Ireland has helped me remember how beneficial art can be – I’ve now seen it first hand.
William Cassidy is a former Service User, and now a befriender, with Depaul Ireland.
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‘I’m the first one to come through from being homeless to being a volunteer with Depaul Ireland.
What I love most is helping the boys achieve things – sometimes I can get through to the boys when staff can’t. I’m an in-betweener! I’ve been able to help calm situations down. One time, a boy was suicidal and hadn’t told his key worker. He talked to me about it and I told his key worker and when we went up to his room, he’d cut himself badly and we caught him in the nick of time. After the ambulance had left and everything was cleaned up, they told me I’d saved that boy’s life.
If you’d seen me in 2007, you wouldn’t have got a word of sense out of me. I’d had a bad break-up, I was using drugs, I was homeless and heavily depressed –suicidal even. When I first came into Back Lane, I got a friendly smile and was treated with respect. It took me a while to get back on my feet. I overdosed and was hospitalised when I was living in Back Lane. The staff and volunteers from Depaul were the only people who came to see me. They helped me get proper medical care and counselling. I had no self-esteem at all when I got there – I was a broken man. But they’ve helped me gain self-respect and get my dignity back. Now I’m a volunteer befriender. I also go to Back Lane 2 days a week to play games and spend time with the boys. I’ve given a talk to 420 students in Dundalk. I’ve talked to managers and project workers from a Service Users’ perspective. I’d do anything for Depaul. I honestly think I’d be dead without them. I think I’ve a different relationship with the Service Users than the other staff. I’m still a Service User in my head. I can talk to them in a way that staff can’t because they know I’m still one of them. I’m able to say to them, ‘I’m nobody really. I was just a homeless guy who was into drugs and alcohol, had bad relationships, who wasn’t seeing his kids – I’ve been through the mill. I’m just like you. If I can do it, so can you.’ Everybody is capable.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
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I feel happy now – happier in myself because of the work I’m doing. I’m overwhelmed that I’ve got the opportunity, and grateful that people show me so much respect. I’m so proud of what I’m doing now. Depaul Ireland are never going to get rid of me – I‘m devoted to them for life!’
William, Dublin
Service User, Belfast 25
What makes Depaul Ireland different from other homelessness organisations?
What sticks out in your mind as the most important milestones in Depaul Ireland’s journey over the last 10 years?
For me, it’s all about being a values driven organisation. The roots of Depaul are so important to us all, and we’re motivated by the way St. Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac worked with the most vulnerable people in society. Our values really do inform our decision making processes, the way we run our services, our conversations around the Board table and even the way we run staff supervisions. We’re not perfect, but we try in everything we do to live up to our values.
There have been a number. Of course coming to Ireland in 2001 and setting up the new projects in Dublin. Then opening some of the projects in Belfast, starting with Stella Maris in 2005.
And what makes Depaul Ireland different from the other branches of Depaul International? Depaul Ireland really has been able to establish its own unique brand within the Depaul family. Our focus on low threshold working and harm reduction is at the heart of this. We brought out a booklet called ‘Where You’re At’ some years ago, to help people internally, and especially externally, to understand the low threshold approach. Ten years ago there weren’t any accommodation services for drug users in Ireland, and there were no ‘wet’ shelters. Now these are state funded services that are accepted as necessary in the overall provision of services. Depaul Ireland is the largest part of the Depaul family now – in terms of staff, volunteers and finance – and we’ve been able to share our experiences with the wider group. For example, the services in the Ukraine are looking to Irish practices to inform their work with street homeless and older vulnerable people. We’re sharing our expertise about wet services with the team in Slovakia. It’s great to be able to share what we’ve learned, to help train others and to give something back as we have received so much from our colleagues over the years.
One big milestone was getting Sundial House opened in 2008. This was to be a project providing long-term accommodation, so it was strategically very important. I remember doing a presentation to the funders about our planned staffing model, and being asked ‘any chance you can shave the budget? And by shave I mean slash!’ This, for me, was the first indication that the recession was coming. It took a long time, with much agonising and redrafting of budgets, but with the support of our funders we finally got the service opened in 2008. In the end another service provider, Crosscare, closed down one of their projects and transferred both the funding, staff and their Service Users over to Sundial. So the episode was an indicator of the more collaborative environment that was to come, as well as a good example of the voluntary sector coming together to find solutions. Although this was a difficult period, we did welcome the idea of increased financial transparency, treating budgets in a new way, and being accountable for public money.
How are the amalgamations and mergers impacting Depaul Ireland? The collaborations over the last 18-24 months have been a real turning point for us. We have had 2 amalgamations with one more in process, a consortium bid, and we are now mentoring other organisations. Collaborative working is vital to the survival of our sector, and offers opportunities for creative and exciting partnerships. It also brings challenges though, especially at a time when the economy is under such strain and there is a push for ever-more rationalisation.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Interview with Kerry Anthony MBE, CEO of Depaul Ireland
At Depaul Ireland, we have been working hard to make sure our values – working with the most vulnerable people in society – aren’t diluted by expansion. We have to make sure that the organisations we’re collaborating with are a good values fit. At the same time, we know that organisations bring their own values and learning with them, and it’s really important that we think about what we can learn from them. Our merger with Rendu was a natural choice for us – they share the same founding partners as Depaul and are part of the wider the Vincentian family, meaning our core values just matched. The merger with Foyle Haven added a new string to our bow, our first day centre for street drinkers in Ireland. We run day centres in Eastern Europe, and are now able to share learning back and forth, so this has been a great synergy.
Mary McAleese launching Back Lane renovations as her last official duty as President of Ireland
What has been the biggest challenge for Depaul Ireland over the last 10 years? Starting up any company, and bringing it to the point where it is sustainable and viable, is incredibly challenging. So the beginning was difficult, and we received a lot of support from Depaul UK at this stage. Five years ago we really started consolidating – we standardised and professionalised our practices and had reached the point where Depaul Ireland could stand on its own 2 feet. Now we are growing again with a range of amalgamations and mergers, and we’re facing into an extremely difficult time economically. So, there are always new challenges on the horizon.
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What has been your personal highlight of the last 10 years at Depaul Ireland?
What are you most looking forward to in the future?
There have been so many! One thing I would pick out would be our Strategic Plan 2009-13. We consulted with everyone on this – from staff and Service Users to external stakeholders – so it really did come from everybody, not just the Senior Management. I was really proud of this. We gave it the name ‘Why not?’ which marked the fact that we were trying to do something different, and that we had an innovative and flexible approach.
Depaul Ireland has now established itself as a lead provider, and I’m looking forward to developing our responses further in our existing services, aways trying to be even better in our support to those who need us.
I’ve also loved the way that Depaul Ireland has developed a strong relationship with the Arts. People so often think of people who are homeless as an homogeneous group, but this is not the case. Each person is an individual with special talents and gifts. Ireland is such an artistic place – we realised that there was so much talent within the organisation and wanted to find ways to celebrate this. The art workshops in the lead up to Electric Picnic are a good example. They celebrate the talents of Service Users, and have lots of health and therapeutic benefits. The final show at Electric Picnic has always been really powerful, and has been great for raising our profile. It’s also a great way to show people the individuality of Service Users.
Celebrating 10 Years of Depaul Ireland
Continued Interview with Kerry Anthony MBE, CEO of Depaul Ireland
I’m looking forward to new challenges in different cities around Ireland and also looking at how we can grow new services continuing in our commitment to innovation. I’m excited about new opportunities to share our learning with colleagues in other countries, as well as seeing what we can learn from them.
And the film Sláinte, with Peter, one of our Service Users, was another absolute highlight. The film was made by a European volunteer who had established a close working relationship with Peter. One day an Irish newspaper printed a picture of Peter, slumped over in the street, with no name. This was her inspiration to come back and make the film about Peter’s life. The film captured beautifully the fun and humour as well as the anger and sadness, of life in a ‘wet’ shelter. Peter had a 2 page spread then in the same paper which had a few years earlier printed a faceless picture of him as a rough sleeper. For him it’s still a real source of excitement and pride. I suppose I should mention going to Buckingham Palace to collect my MBE which I was awarded in the 2010 Queens New Years Honours list. This has been important for profile of the organisation and clearly wasn’t just about me. I believe that this was really an award for all the work we’ve done collectively as an organisation. My parents were delighted though!
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