What we do?
Don Bosco Care works with Ireland's most at risk young people
We work with these vulnerable young people from aged 12 - 22 and often provide support to them and their families long into adulthood.
From the moment a young person arrives in our care, until the moment they take their first steps into adulthood we place them at the heart of the Don Bosco Care community, empowering them to grow and reach their full potential.
Residential Care
Don Bosco Care currently has 6 houses, which, at anyone time, provide a safe and secure home for 31 boys,teenagers and young adults. We help the young residents to work through any issues they may have. We help them learn to make good choices and encourage them in areas where they need to develop. We work to make each of our houses a warm and friendly environment that makes every young person who comes through our doors feel right at home.
The moment a young person enters our care they are treated as an individual. We get to know them, find out what their interests are and encourage them into activities. We also give the young people in our care order and structure that they may not receive elsewhere. In our houses we make young people feel part of a community so that they can learn how to trust and leave behind any sense of isolation. We do this by involving young residents in community meetings which deal with issues regarding the house they live in. We also put an emphasis on young people achieving emotional and personal growth.
The houses are divided up based on age, with the youngest boys living in our Drumcondra House and the older boys and teenagers at “Blessington Street and Ballymun. Don Bosco Care also provides residential care for older teenagers and young adults, many of whom may have mental health problems or who have not yet developed the coping skills to live independently.
Outreach Aftercare
Our After Care team work with young people who have left state care and are moving into independent living. We work with the young people to help them secure accommodation, to ensure they are budgeting their money properly, to keep them in education or work and to provide the practical and emotional support that we all need from time to time and normally receive from our families. The After Care team is crucial in keeping at risk young people in secure accommodation, moving forward with their lives and avoiding homelessness and poverty.
Residential Aftercare
Residential aftercare is for 18-21 year olds who have been in care. Very few young people are ready to live independently at 18 and this is even more likely if that young person has grown up in care and does not have the traditional support networks to fall back on. We aim to provide a caring and warm home environment to aid the transition from a formal care environment and facilitate the young person moving into independent living. The young people in residential aftercare are in formal education or training and are preparing for a life beyond care. We focus on giving them independence that prepares them for life in the real world. We teach them basic life skills like budgeting, cooking and paying rent so that when they leave our care they can stand on their own feet.