In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

"Footsteps Online"

Autumn 2001 (Volume 6, Issue 3)

SOPHIA H0USING ASSOCIATION
"An upside down choice"

The Sophia Housing Association began in 1998 when a group of laypeople and religious came together to realise a dream. The dream was about those on the margins having a better way of fife, a more equal way of life. We wanted to make a diFference. It was our intention to establish a holistic approach to alleviate the root causes of poverty - lack of education, housing and childcare.

Sophia, or Wisdom, could be described as a gentle presence in our world. Sophia Wisdom dwells in the hearts of those who seek new dreams and hope for a more wholesome world. Thus the Sophia Housing Association was born.

Sophia Housing would be about partnership with other voluntary groups working in this area and together campaigning for a more comprehensive package to tackle the problem of homelessness in Ireland. Since the Daughters of Wisdom and myself (Jean Quinn DW) initiated the project almost three years ago now, the organisation has expanded way beyond our initial dream. From our beginnings as a local organisation in Dublin, we have now moved to a National Organisation with various projects now emerging beyond Dublin to Portlaoise, Cork and the West of Ireland. Planning permission has just been given for the Cork St. project in inner city Dublin that will consist of almost sixty, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, an administrative block, a counselling centre and a creche for twenty-five children. We are also building a centre, which we will call the "Web of Inclusion" or "Wisdom House."

When Jesus Wisdom healed people, it was to give them a personal experience of God's compassionate love. Jesus reached out to touch the diseased person; his therapeutic touch came from a compassionate heart. Jesus' response to the leper, those ostracised from society, the outcasts of Jesus' day, including women, was to reach out the hand of compassion, even as their religious leaders denied them access to the official channels of healing and reconciliation. I wonder how different is this situation today?

And so to fulfil our mission. the project aims to:

  • Make housing in all aspects accessible to people on low incomes.
  • Provide a comfortable, safe environment in which women and men can meet and network with each other.
  • Offer compassionate listening, pastoral care and practical guidance to women, men and children.
  • Provide a safe place for children to play and interact in a supervised setting.
  • Provide assistance in finding and using resources in the area.
  • Provide support and encouragement during and after their stay.
  • Advocate and lobby with and for people.
  • Help people to develop a "Life Plan" suited to their own particular needs.
  • Recognise and understand the educational needs and requirements of people.

As a group we believe that all of us, supporter, worker, customer, have much to learn from one another. We intend to strive towards non-violent resolution of conflict while living creatively with the tensions of life. We will emphasise standing with people rather than doing for them. We will recognise both vulnerability and strength in people. We will be non-judgemental. We will offer a sanctuary where community has a chance to develop. We will foster an awareness of the relationships of the person with their world.

After all these years I realise that I have been very privileged in the people I have met on my journey with marginalized people - the people I continue to feel passionate about in my work and in my life. And yet we cannot continue to write and talk about this situation as I am doing now - it needs to be a reality and a lived experience.

We need to be persons, communities, organisations, society and governments who will seek the good of others. At the start of the new Millennium, can we begin to look at our society as sisters and brothers of each other? Social and economic exclusion can only be solved when those who have are prepared to share with those who have not. This is the dream and hope of our new organisation, the Sophia Housing Association.

Sr. Jean Quinn DW