Services Offered at Dublin Simon Community

Dublin Simon Community looks for solutions to homelessness - emergency relief and our street services are just part of our work.  Our aim is to provide people with the skills, confidence and resources to get a home of their own.  Supporting Dublin Simon is a great opportunity to become involved with real, grassroots community issues.  Our current services attempt to eliminate, tackle and deal with the problems encountered by Dublin’s homeless population:
Rough Sleeping

• Soup Run: 365 nights a year, our volunteer Soup Runners are on the city’s streets bringing hot soup, sandwiches, blankets, and most importantly friendship to Dublin's rough sleepers.  This service has over 100 volunteers.
• Rough Sleeper team: actively seeks out people sleeping rough and works with the Soup Run team to make contact with them, find them a safe place to spend the night and get access to support services so they can stop sleeping on the streets. The Rough Sleeper Team makes contact with more than 100 people a month. 
• Shelters: offer emergency accommodation for 30 people at Harcourt Street and two new emergency accommodation shelters, one in Dun Laoghaire and one in Ushers Island. These are much more than just a place to spend the night, and care workers draw up tailored care plans for each resident.

Addiction

• Alcohol Services: this is a safe and supportive environment where clients can address their alcohol addiction. For approximately 40% of our clients, alcohol is a critical factor stopping them from leading an independent life.  The Alcohol Services encompass Detox, Rehab , based in Ushers Island, and our Aftercare Service which consists of 3 houses in Dublin.

Supported Housing

• Sean McDermott Street, Canal Road and North Circular Road: These are services with low, high and medium supports for people whose special needs make it difficult for them to live independently. Due to addiction issues, medical problems or mental illness, some people will always require on-site or floating support.

Independence

• Resettlement: assisting people moving from a shelter or supported housing facilities into their own home. 
• Transitional Housing: Dublin Simon’s facility in Dorset Street is the stepping stone from supported living to independence. It provides 15 self-contained apartments with some floating support. Many residents spend some time in this project while they source move on options. 
• Learning and Development: based in Dorset St, the service uses meaningful activity, training programmes and structured activities to help our clients gain the skills and confidence to rebuild their lives.
• Tenancy Sustainment Service:  A critical initiative into prevention and sustainment, this service commenced operation in 2005 and will serve all homeless organisations in Dublin.  Its function will be to support the settlement of up to 200 people annually, and it has real potential to significantly reduce the number of people who become homeless, or relapse back into homelessness.