Organizacijos aprašas

Depaul is a charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Depaul believes that homelessness has no place. We are a cross border organisation established in the Republic of Ireland in 2002 and Northern Ireland in 2005. Depaul Northern Ireland is part of Depaul International, a group of charities working to support people who are homeless and marginalised around the world.

Our services are Low Threshold making them easier to access by those who can be excluded from other services that they often need most. Our services span: Community and Outreach, Vulnerable Families, Harm Reduction Accommodation services and Criminal Justice.

Depaul's services span Dublin (ROI), Belfast, Dungannon, Newry/Mourne and Derry~Londonderry. In 2015 we supported 4,169 people in our services, conducted visits to 6,216 people at risk of losing their home, supported 213 vulnerable families and provided 13,497 support sessions.

Within the values of the work of Depaul lies a holistic approach to each individual with whom we work. This involves providing emotional support in addition to physical and practical services. It is within this structure of support that the work of our volunteer programme is vital. In particular, some of the EVS / Erasmus + Priorities cover themes and issues that our volunteers and service users have been involved in. For example, promoting awareness of exclusion and homelessness issues to the public, promoting healthier lifestyles, encouraging the development of skills and knowledge (through training or volunteering) for future employment or study and celebrating culture through art, food and dialogue.

The volunteer programme was established to enable both local individuals and young people from other countries via Erasmus + to become involved with the work of the organisation. The programme aims to develop the skills and experience of the volunteer, provide our service users with opportunities whilst simultaneously enabling Depaul to offer a more multifaceted approach to our service.

Depaul has been hosting EVS volunteers since 2005. We currently host 4 EVS volunteers from Programme and Partner Countries in our Stella Maris Harm Reduction Service and Homeless Families Services (Mater Dei & Cloverhill).

We aim to:
• Develop new ideas and skills from a diverse range of volunteers.
• Involve volunteers in mutually beneficial activities that can also be shared with our partners and stakeholders.
• Support social mobility, dialogue and cultural awareness.
• Highlight Social Exclusion Issues - homelessness, poverty, barriers to education & employment etc.
• Share Depaul working practices such as Harm Reduction, Low Threshold approaches and holistic support.
• Quip volunteers and Depaul service users with skills and confidence to be active citizens.
• To support participants to develop or achieve skills and qualities that will improve their personal development and employability.