Depaul International Week
Depaul International and its subsidiaries in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Ukraine, the USA and France work to relieve homelessness in the spirit of St Vincent Depaul, the French priest canonised for his dedication to helping the poor. We support people of all faiths or none in a practical and non-judgemental way.
This year, the Depaul International subsidiaries commemorated
St. Vincent’s feast day on September 27th with a week-long series of service activities, celebrations, and reflections beginning September 23rd and ending September 30th.
In
Philadelphia in the
USA university students volunteered their services to help redecorate Depaul House, a transitional home for men. In
Ireland there were presentations (and food and music) about each "Depaul country”. Depaul
Ukraine presented a new short film outlining its services, and in
Slovakia a national conference of the Vincentian Family took place on September 22nd. A live link up between young people using our services in the North East of England and some of the residents at Depaul House in Philadelphia along with service users at Foyle Haven in Derry, Northern Ireland took place on one of the celebration days - they felt a common bond through talking to each other about their experiences of homelessness and want to continue to meet "over the airwaves" in the future. This is just a sample of what happened, click here for a full list.
Mark McGreevy, CEO of Depaul International, said, "Sadly homelessness is a global issue and in many countries it is on the rise. Depaul started as a small organisation working with young homeless people in
England. As we have grown, we have reached out to homeless people in other countries sharing our expertise as Depaul International. The events of Depaul International Week give us an opportunity to share and connect with subsidiaries in our global family, reflect on the work we do and celebrate the successful stories of people who have been helped and supported by Depaul.”
