Welcome from the CEO

I feel extremely privileged to lead Daisyhouse as CEO. They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, I can say that this is me 99% of the time (we all have our off days). Within this report, you will meet some of the amazing clients of Daisyhouse. These stories are just a small glimpse into the lives of these truly inspirational people. Even after working in this sector for over twenty years now, I still always take the time to reflect on my privileged place in society when I hear the journeys our clients have endured to get to where they are today. I want to personally thank those who gave me their time to relay their personal stories. The positive impact of the work of Daisyhouse is only possible because of the hard work and dedication of our staff, volunteers and Board; the generosity of our funders and donors, and the support of the wider community. We are extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful group of people supporting us in our work.

I want to thank our Patron, The Honourable Catherine McGuinness and our Ambassador, Claire Byrne RTE Broadcaster for all their support during 2021.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to the Health Service Executive- CH07 and CH09, not only for providing funding but also for their close working partnership in relation to Covid-19; the Irish Council for Social Housing; Government Departments; Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council; and everyone that we collaborated and worked with. Our sincerest thanks to all of you for your continued support in our work supporting people out of homelessness.

Thanks also to our volunteers, existing, new, and past partners. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 we did not have the same opportunities as previous years to work as closely with our volunteers but we look forward to growing these partnerships in 2022 and beyond. I also want to thank our suppliers and contractors who were extremely diligent in their work, especially mindful of the health of our clients and staff.

We extend our sincerest thanks to everyone involved in the writing, photographing and the production of press articles that shared our story. I want to extend a very special word of gratitude to our individual and corporate donors, big and small, whether it was financial support or any other type of assistance. We were very aware of the potential struggles of our corporates as they were also feeling the effects of the pandemic, however, they continued to support us in every way they could. We were extremely fortunate to receive a large donation from The Marists Fathers in early 2021. We are truly indebted to them for their generosity. We also continued our incredible relationship with The Ireland Funds who have been an integral partner to Daisyhouse for many years now. They have introduced us to some life changing trusts and foundations including but not limited to The Colin and Nikki Ryan Trust, without whom we would not be able to offer the complete holistic programme which our clients benefit from. Our philanthropic partners have been truly amazing to us in 2021- I thank you dearly.

I want to thank the members of our Board and its Sub- Committees who continue to give their time, commitment and wisdom to us on a voluntary basis. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to all of our staff who have continued to work tirelessly throughout 2021 and the global pandemic. Without all of you, our clients would not be on their final journey out of homelessness.

Despite the negative effects of the pandemic, there were some good effects also in 2021. Namely, the increase in the availability of private rented accommodation across the country. This allowed us to ensure that those clients who were ready to move on did so in a timely manner and into a higher than normal standard of accommodation which is usually available to those on housing benefit. However, unfortunately, this trend did not follow into 2022.

Whilst the spotlight remained on the global pandemic throughout 2021 and we continued to implement all of the necessary health and safety measures, Daisyhouse continued to develop and grow in terms of its governance and continued to have a future facing outlook. Daisyhouse finalised its strategy for the next three years. We are currently building the foundations to increase our

supported temporary accommodation by 100%. We also are reverting to fully supporting women only. In 2017, the then CEO and Board of Directors, at the request of the HSE started to accommodate a small number of men in a property separate from our female accommodation. They felt it was the right thing to do at the time as men needed to be accommodated in similar accommodation to what Daisyhouse offered its female clients. We believe Daisyhouse is at its strongest as a women-only service. Research shows the treatment needs of women differ to those of men, often requiring responses tailored for increased stigma, gender-based violence, sex work, pregnancy, maternal responsibilities or co-occurring mental health issues.

We are excited to bring all of our stakeholders on this journey with us as we continue to be guardians of some of Ireland’s most vulnerable but resilient women.

Ena Norris, CEO