Sophia Appoints Jean Quinn D.W. as Patron of Sophia the National Homeless and Housing with Support Charity

Sophia (a National Homelessness and Housing Charity) has appointed Jean Quinn D.W. as its Patron. The event to mark this appointment took place on Tuesday the 15th of April in the Wisdom Centre, Cork Street, Dublin 8.

In 1997, Jean founded Sophia to be an organisation with a radically different model for addressing homelessness. A model that offered a home with visiting supports and to offer a holistic response to people who had experienced homelessness.

Michael McCarthy (Chair of Sophia) noted that “Jean’s vision was ahead of its time. Thirty years ago, the dominant response to homelessness was large scale hostels and shelters. The issue of homelessness was being managed but not solved. Jean’s grassroots work informed her of what people who experienced homelessness wanted most of all; they didn’t just want a bed for the night but instead they needed a home for life. Jean also instinctively knew that people who had experienced the trauma of homelessness also needed a range of supports to help them transition from the instability of homelessness to the security of having a home of one’s own”.

Jean Quinn’s vision for addressing homelessness enabled Sophia to expand its impact on homelessness to the point where Sophia now provides over 500 homes across the State and supports over 1,500 people at any one time.

Jean’s vision for a holistic response to homelessness has been proven to work as Sophia attains a 90% success rate i.e. over nine out of ten people supported by Sophia never return to homelessness and this is above the international norm. Sophia believes its model is needed and it is very relevant to addressing the homelessness crisis in Ireland.

As Patron of Sophia, Jean will continue to nourish and motivate the work of Sophia as well as acting as an ambassador promoting the work of Sophia.