alice leahy
Southampton
About Alice Leahy Trust TRUST was founded in 1975, and this year we are 35 years
working people who are homeless in Dublin. TRUST is a non-political,
non-denominational voluntary body set up in 1975 as a private charitable trust
(Charity No.CHY7014) to provide medical and related services for people who are
homeless. We work in premises provided at a nominal rent by the Iveagh Trust.
Between 30 and 40 men and women call each morning, the majority of whom are
sleeping out (age 18 to 85). We see new people daily and often have people
calling who were housed – settled- and become homeless again. Washing facilities
are available and each month we give out in excess of 500 outfits of clothing to
people who are homeless as part of our total health service. Members of the
public, Rotary and church groups donate the clothes and shoes. Developing a
Sense of Self-Worth We encourage and help people who come to us to avail of
statutory services and to obtain their entitlements; to place a value on
themselves; to develop a sense of self esteem and avoid dependence on private
charity. “When we first entered TRUST on the Monday at the beginning of the week
Alice asked us if we could ever see ourselves homeless and straight away we
answered “No”. But now after all we’ve experienced and seen I now realise there
is only a very, very fine line between having a home and being homeless.
Homelessness is not just being houseless -it’s about not feeling wanted or
belonging somewhere. Society has an awful opinion of homeless people as drunks,
down and outs -whereas they are only human beings like the rest of us who just
couldn’t keep up in the rat race. We met some very well spoken people -teachers
who couldn’t get jobs, doctors who couldn’t “make it”. They become so
institutionalised that they will not move out of a hostel. Before, I would have
been anxious or afraid to approach a homeless person on the street but now I
know that they would be happy to have someone to talk to. I also never realised
all the organisations and people who devote and have spent most of their life
working with the homeless” Extract from diary of student nurse on placement.
Helping to Create a Society where Everyone is Important We see a major part of
our work is in the field of advocacy or promoting more awareness of the
outsiders amongst us, and the creation of this web site and our Transition Year
Project and Essay Competition grew directly out of that commitment. We are a
relatively small agency but through our work we have gained valuable insights
and using our experience we try in different ways to bring that into the wider
community and seek to effect change. For example, we have been intensely
involved in prison and psychiatric work since the beginning of Trust. In 1998,
Trust Director Alice Leahy was invited to join the National Crime Forum. Trust
is on the Consultative Board of the Homeless Initiative and is involved in
on-going training of specialist groups. We make submissions in response to
requests from government agencies and are involved in relevant research on the
issues relating to homelessness. Trust feels that some agencies involved with
people who are homeless may not respect everybody’s right to the confidential
use and storage of information. Some people who are homeless feel pressurised to
take part in research into homelessness in case they may lose their hostel bed
or their entitlements. Trust only participates in research when we believe the
research design is sound, ethical and likely to provide useful information. “I
was most impressed by your service. The bright coloured walls and wooden floors
were warm and welcoming, and mirrored the bright cheerful staff who welcomed me…
I was particularly impressed by the pictures on the wall, which captured the
sensitive nature of the people who use your service and speaks of a place where
everyone is accepted just as they are. Those pictures tell me that every life is
a work of art. I felt I was in a solid, comfortable place and ordinary enough to
feel at home.” Letter from Dr. Kieran McKeown,Social & Economic Research
Consultant after a visit to TRUST
