Project:  A residential homeless project for adults with alcohol addiction. Service users can consume alcohol on the premises under the ethos of Harm Minimization (working with the individual to reduce alcohol related harm).  Service users may have mental and physical health problems as a result of their drinking.

Project environment

Stella Maris is a 24/7 accomodation project providing care and support to long term street drinkers, working to a principle of harm reduction. It provides a 'homely' environment with a high standard of accommodation and support to access to welfare rights advice, health care and other specialist services.
The project houses up to 23 long-term homeless street drinkers who have failed to or do not wish to stop drinking. The residents may have associated mental health problems, general health problems and a low self-esteem. The project accepts both men and women over the age of 18. The average age of residents is 40.
The project works within a principle of 'harm minimisation' which means that we work with residents at their level to provide the best possible interventions for them. Because of the needs of the residents we work with, the project has allocated 'wet areas' where residents are able to consume their own alcohol on site. This is managed by a keyworking system so that residents have support from an allocated project staff member.
Volunteers should be aware that Stella Maris can be a challenging project. Volunteers must take a mature approach to the issues that they may face in the project. Alcoholism and associated mental and physical ill health can lead to many residents to withdraw from life outside the project. Therefore volunteers can play a key role in bringing a positive outlook and meaningful activities into the project. Even seemingly small activities can make a big difference to the well being of our residents.


The host project is situated in Belfast, the main city of Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom). Belfast is a small city with a vibrant social and cultural life. The cost of living is substantially cheaper than in Britain  but the commercial and social opportunities are on a level with both.

Belfast is served by two airports, and is linked to most major destinations in Europe and the US. There is also a coach service that connects the city centre to Dublin airport for flights to other destinations. Belfast is also ideal to use as a base for touring other parts of Northern Ireland, which enjoys excellent road and rail links to many scenic destinations, such as the Giants Causeway, the city of Derry, Mourne Mountains, Fermanagh lakes and many more.

The city hosts a number of significant arts festivals over the year and also plays host to a diverse array of bars, nightclubs, theatres, venues, restaurants and cinemas. Recent years have witnessed an increase in both tourist numbers and in the development of new ethnic communities.

Political and factional violence was a part of life in Belfast for thirty years from the late 1960s.
Although the city continues to experience tensions between its two communities (and, indeed, tensions within different factions of both communities), it has been engaged on a peace process since the mid-1990s, and political strife does not generally affect outsiders to the area.

Depaul Ireland has been working within the YOUTH Programme for a number of years in both Belfast and Dublin. We host two volunteers at our Stella Maris Hostel in Belfast and two in our Homeless Families Projects. Volunteers run a diverse programme of activities in arts and crafts, music and film and quiz nights. The can also help staff with life skills and awareness raising about issues around health or good money management. The volunteers also help to organise outings or special events for residents. Depaul has a dedicated Volunteer Co-ordinator who manages both EVS and part time volunteering.

Volunteers who are placed with us also enjoy an intercultural experience. Volunteers are generally on induction for the first two weeks of the project. During this time they participate in a tour of the host city with the volunteer mentor of the project. They are also given the opportunity to visit sites of historical and cultural significance.

Volunteers are housed in rented accommodation. They live in a house with shared, kitchen, living room and bathroom. They will have their own bedrooms. All utensils, sheets, towels etc will be provided by Depaul . Depaul pays for all rent and bills for this house. Volunteers will be required to maintain cleanliness in the house and the house from time to time will be subject to agreed house checks by the volunteer co-ordinator.

Motivation and EVS experience

Our projects are aimed at socially excluded people and in particular the homeless, drug users, offenders, youth, care leavers or those at risk within their local communities. We have hosted 2 full-time EVS volunteers in Northern Ireland since 2005 in our Stella Maris hostel and have hosted 2 more in our Homeless Families Project since 2008. We have a strong ethos of volunteering and initally the volunteer programme was established to enable local individuals to become involved with the work of the organisation. The programme aims to develop the skills of the volunteers whilst simultaneously enabling Depaul Ireland to offer a more multifaceted approach to our service.
By adding a European dimension to the volunteer programme we feel that our residents and working practice has greatly benefited from new cultural experiences. The EVS programme also offers the opportunity for young people using Depaul Ireland services to volunteer abroad. We actively promote EVS to the participants of our "Drive Ahead" training project. The project is a free 10 week course to enable unemployed young people to gain skills to acess employment and get a driving and forklift license. Depaul  would fully assist any particpant in the sending process. Currently we host 10 EVS volunteers within our Dublin and Belfast services.

Description of the organisation

Depaul Ireland (formerly Depaul Trust) was set up in 2002. The charity is a joint initiative of Depaul Trust UK, the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland and other members of the Vincentian Family. With offices in Dublin & Belfast the charity has developed a number of projects working with socially excluded people and in particular youth, the homeless, drug users, offenders, care leavers or those at risk within their local communities.

Depaul Northern Ireland. We currently operate:

" Drive Ahead - An education and training project targeting disadvantaged young people in North Belfast.
" Stella Maris - Accommodation project targeting long term street drinkers in the Belfast area.
" Mater Dei - Accommodation project for homeless families including children.
" Cloverhill - Accommodation project for homeless families including children.
" Castlehill - A rural accommodation project for homeless men and women (opened March 2009)

Depaul Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. In the Dublin region we currently operate:

" Orchid House: An emergency accommodation project for long term street drinkers
" Clancy Nightshelter: A low threshold nightshelter for 18-35 year old with drug use issues.
" Back Lane Hostel: Accommodation for 75 homeless men (includes emergency beds)
" Tus Nua: A transitional housing project for women leaving prison and identified as at risk of becoming homeless.
" Sundial House: Accommodation project for long term street drinkers
" Ballymun Case Management Team: outreach support in the community.
" Community Medical Services.
" Community Befriending Programme: support for re-housed ex-residents.

Within the values of the work of Depaul Ireland 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.
The volunteer programme was established to enable both local individuals and young people from other countries to become involved with the work of the organisation. The programme aims to develop the skills and experience of volunteer, provide our service users with opportunities whilst simultaneously enabling Depaul Ireland to offer a more multifaceted approach to our service.
We are active within the homeless sector in Ir(North & South) and in the UK and are part of Depaul International.