Service User Participation Services
Service User Participation encourages the people who use our services to become involved with Dublin Simon Community in a more positive manner, as experts through experience. It is about talking and listening to the people who use our services and involving them as partners in the decisions that affect their lives.
In relation to homelessness, participation can be defined as the effective involvement of people experiencing homelessness in service provision as well as in decision making processes affecting these services. We believe that people using our services must be given the equal opportunity to participate to a level and a degree that suits them. We empower people to become actively and genuinely involved in defining the issues of concern to them, in making decisions about factors that affect their lives and in taking action to achieve change.
We create opportunities to enable people who use our services to realise their full potential. At Dublin Simon we recognise the skills, talents and experience of the people who use our services and utilise these in tackling the problems they face.
Get Involved
Service User Participation is open to anybody who has used, or is currently using, any of Dublin Simon Community's services. While involvement is encouraged it is always voluntary.
What We Do
Service User Participation has so far supported people who use our services to:
• Form a development group, which has been meeting every month for over two years and continues to do so. This group discusses issues affecting people who are homeless and comes up with innovative ideas to combat them. They also organise Saturday social outings
• Volunteer in Dublin Simon Community. We currently have eight people volunteering part-time within our Community
• Perform interactive theatre pieces at two of our community days entitled The Frustration of Homelessness and Language is Power
• Attend training in skills such as public speaking, boundaries training, effective meeting skills and facilitation skills
• Organise four Speak Outs, where people using our services have an opportunity to come and speak about their issues, and to be heard. Guest speakers have included the Director of the Homeless Agency Cathal Morgan, manager of the Central Placement Service John MacEvilly and Paul Foran, Michelle Ruane & Brian Burke from On the Road Again
• Arrange events such as a Sale of Work to raise funds for ourselves
Contact Details
For more information please contact the Service User Participation office on 01-649 8608 or email sharonkeogh@dubsimon.ie
For further information please click here to download our information leaflet