The eight Simon Communities are:
Dundalk Simon Community
PO Box 26
Dundalk
Co Louth
T: 042 933 9583
E: yorkestsimon@eircom.net
W: www.dundalksimon.ie
Dundalk Simon Community has been working with people who experience homelessness for over thirty years. Exceptional work with significant outcomes has been achieved over these years and a vibrant and creative community of staff, volunteers, residents and former residents now form the backbone of the organisation. From its beginnings as a soup run in 1973, Dundalk Simon has grown and developed in a manner that has placed the needs of people who are homeless in Dundalk to the forefront of everything we do.
Now in 2006, Dundalk Simon Community offers a range of options to people who are experiencing homelessness; from the Gatehouse Project which provides accommodation for up to seven rough sleepers nightly to Sunnyside House which offers emergency accommodation for up to 25 people to our most recent development, a new day centre in Seatown House. The day centre is the base for the settlement team and administration services and has very quickly become a focal point for former residents and people who are living in Sunnyside House or the Gatehouse Project and are being supported in their move to independent living. Open on a Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm with a further drop-in service on a Saturday morning, Seatown House has become a vital part of Dundalk Simon’s efforts to ensure that people who are homeless in Dundalk have access to support across the organisation at all times of the week.
The work of Dundalk Simon is further enhanced by the Crescent Project, which is run in conjunction with the Heath Services Executive and provides a supported home for four adults with learning disabilities. This is a particularly innovative project in that it is beginning to bridge a service gap for people with a learning disability who find themselves homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. In 2007, it is planned to explore further the long-term supported housing needs of the people living in the Crescent Project with a view to developing more individual independent living within a reduced support framework.
The public face of Dundalk Simon Community is often, for many people, the Simon Shop in Yorke Street. Staffed by part time workers, FÁS employees and volunteers, the shop is yet another focal point of our work in Dundalk and provides an important source of income for the community.
2006 has been a very busy year for Dundalk Simon. It has been the year where we have challenged ourselves to look at what we have achieved, the services we provide and areas that we could improve upon. We have set ourselves a three year strategy that covers all aspects of our work and which, when fully implemented, will ensure that Dundalk Simon Community remains at the forefront of service delivery for people who experience homelessness in Dundalk and the surrounding area.
2007 will see us concentrating on implementing our strategy with a particular focus on the development of 12 units of supported housing.
We have 37 staff and 17 volunteers (both full and part time). We provide services to approximately 130 people, and re house on average 30 people, per year.