Over two decades ago, when Sister Jean Quinn D.W founded Sophia, she understood the power of partnerships. With the support of the Daughters of Wisdom Jean worked with a wide range of partners, extensively researching best practices in homelessness, speaking with people who had experienced homelessness and reflecting on her instinctive belief that providing a home with wrap around holistic supports was key to breaking the cycle of homelessness.
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Soon after founding Sophia Jean was joined by Co-Founder Eamonn Martin, and working in partnership with both religious and laypeople they began to establish a model of support that placed providing a home with associated supports at the center of what they did.
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The stakeholders that supported and worked with Jean and Eamonn two decades ago are still working alongside Sophia today. These partnerships have been pivotal in Sophia's growth and our ability to provide supported homes across the state.
The Power of Partnership
Congregations
Sophia has worked with Religious Congregations to provide homes with supports for over twenty years. They see in Sophia a partner with who they can work with, continuing their legacy of social justice in communities across the country.
Statutory Partners
Everyday Sophia works with Local Authorities, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the HSE, TUSLA and a range of other partners to effectively deliver our services to the highest standards to those who need them most.
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From providing outreach services and tenancy support services to our work in our Nurturing Centres, these partnerships are vital to helping those we support to recover from homelessness.
Midlands Simon Community
Sophia and Midlands Simon Community first entered their innovative collaboration agreement in 2016. Both organisations have a shared value base in terms of service delivery and are committed to adapting the Housing First model to an Irish context.
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The Collaboration Agreement is an example of an innovative partnership of how two organisations who are committed to similar goals and share the same philosophy in terms of service provision can support more people, provide a better quality of service and a achieve greater return for the public funds that are entrusted to them.
