Easy Street Outreach Team

Background Information

The STAR Project Easy Street Program, as part of its services, offers a detached Outreach Service for young people age 10 – 28 and their families within the context of the young person, who are living in and around the Ballymun area. The purpose of the program is to identify, assess and design targeted interventions in order to address substance use and its related harm on the individual, the family and the wider community. We are primarily street-based  also operating over evenings and weekends. Our work is built on the principle of positive role modelling, demonstrating for the people we work with that change is possible. We aim to educate, empower, build trust, upon strong relationships. We work with people where they are at that point in time. At times in our lives, we can feel hopeless, disconnected and isolated. Through the work of Easy Street, we aim identify a pathway of reconnection, a way out from isolation and to restore a sense of hope one step at a time.

The programme offers a confidential, professional, and non-judgmental service.

How we work

We work in a variety of ways tailored to the needs of the individual or family. We use a detached model of street work. We work in pairs and have designated routes that cover the Ballymun area. We can meet people on the street, we do house calls or meet in a local spot of your choice. People can also walk into the reception area and ask for one of the team members. Each intervention is designed based on the needs of the person and led by the person. We are goals & strengths focused. We also provide 1 to 1 work, group work, and case management approach.

Approaches we use: All our approaches are informed by Trauma Informed Care (recognizing the part that trauma can have on an individual’s life)

  • Resonance Factor – Explores the unique relationship everyone has with their Substance and the behaviors associated with that relationship.  
  • Interagency case management & key working (person / family led)
  • Meitheal family support (act as lead agency for families using the metiheal model)
  • Harm Reduction Model, Reduce the use (12-week Program) 
  • Secondary schools-based substance workshops (based on evidence-based models)
  • Street education (variety of topics covered delivering factual on trend information
  • Street work (engaging, building and sustaining relationships with people on the street in the Ballymun are assessing needs with a view to improve the overall quality of ones life)
  • Walk in advice (if we haven’t got the information, we can source it)
  • Low threshold targeted Outreach
  • Provide appointment accompaniment when necessary based on a case by case basis
  • Offer signposting & onward referral.
  • Advocacy (you can have your voice heard through us}
  • Organize Events showcasing local talents & raising awareness on specific issues impacting our society
  • Mobile Easy Street Bus Service brining the services to the community for those who don’t cross service door.
  • Supporting local events under the community safety strand to our work

Detached street work 

Easy Street team are out on the streets 3 evenings per week, 1 morning & weekends. We have a drop-in advice crisis support session each Friday evening in AXIS. From the street we offer street education, targeted interventions, one to one follow up, house calls, crisis intervention, onward referral and signposting.

We are on the street the following times:

TUESDAY 6PM – 9PM

WEDNESDAY 10 AM -1PM

WEDNESDAY 6PM – 9PM

THURSDAY 6PM – 9PM

SAT 12PM – 5PM

Informal Education

  • We deliver a street education program 3 to 4 times per year during the street work sessions, we deliver this over a two week period and the topic is in parallel with the topics we deliver in the schools program so age appropriate young people who are not attending school still get the opportunity and access to factual information regarding substances and their related ham.

One to one support

  • 10 – 28 male & female. For individuals we offer case management, key working, onward referral, sign posting & handholding.
  • Each team member aims to work with 5 individuals at any one time, we offer a 12 week intervention including assessment, key working case management, goal setting, referral to treatment, community detox, & support with other social issues.
  • An individual can access the service through our street work, self-referral or referral from another service provider.
  • The referral is then discussed at the weekly team meeting where a key worker is assigned to you and you will be contacted for a follow up appointment for initial assessment.

Group Work

  • We deliver evidence-based workshops to groups of students in the local secondary school, the workshops are based on the current trends of substance use & related harm. We deliver the workshop across the years from first year to fourth year during the school day in the classroom, each workshop is 40 minutes.
  • We offer a reduced 12-week program twice per year, this is an evidence-based model supporting individuals to reduce their substance use. We also use this model in a one-to-one setting.
  • We facilitate a 12-week powder cocaine program for males and females 18 years + who have a desire to address their powder cocaine use, this program runs two evenings per week, currently running Monday and Friday, integral to this the participants are offered a key working session biweekly and urinalysis monitoring is part of the commitment, this adds that extra support and goals for a person to aim for each week.
  • We offer a social space on a Friday evening for people over 16 years of age who are interested in developing their musicality in a variety of ways. The target group for this social space are at risk of being exposed to substance and substance related harm.

Events 

  • Community safety is key to the work of Easy Street, our work aims at having an impact on the residents of the area feeling an added sense of safety when engaging with us. In this regard we work alongside the DCC community-based team delivering several events and programs during the year. These can range from fun days, street games or bigger festivals. All of these must be underpinned by the principle that the space in which they are taken place is impacted by substance and substance related harm.
  • We are an active organization involved in the planning and implementing of recovery related events in the Ballymun area. There are several events throughout the year and a calendar of activities for the month of September. The aim of these events is to reduce stigma attached to people using substances, raise awareness of services available to people using substances and their families seeking support, to celebrate recovery by hosting many positive events throughout the month.

 Drop in session

  • We offer a walk-in service on a Friday evening currently in the Axis Center. This service operates from 6pm – 8.30pm weekly. People who are looking for information, advice, follow up work can avail themselves of this service, the content is related to substances and harm related to it.

Advocacy 

  • Due to the privileged position, we have working on the street so close to people we see and hear the issues first hand. In this regard we can act as a bridge between the community and services and service design. We have placed ourselves on over 10 community fora that is relevant to the needs of the people we work with so we can ensure your voice is heard. The voice of the community is very powerful and rich with wisdom. The community often understands their needs better than anyone and often understands exactly what’s needed to bring about change. One of the principles of Easy Street is that the staff who work on the program largely come from the community in which they work so the advocacy we engage in is about making the community a safer place to live and rear your family.

Mobile  Service

  • An exciting new project is our mobile bus to compliment our Outreach work. We bought a 33-seater coach which has now been converted into a mobile unit that consists of a one-to-one room, a sitting room area, a kitchen area, and open hatch with awning, TV, Laptop, Printer, Play Station, information leaflets. The unit brings the service to the people who don’t generally attend services, to engage differently with people eg people who have challenges when filling in forms or accessing information can be supported is one of the many ways we can offer support. This unit allows us to bring out other services into the community that find it a challenge to engage their target group through the mainstream route. This is a new service in 2024 and we have high expectations of what can develop from this innovative way of working. We envisage the unit being out in the community 4 to 5 times per week , evenings & weekends,  visiting areas that are known for high anti-social behavior. The mobile unit comes under our community safety strand of the work of Easy Street. The mobile unit will be an integral element of the overall work of Easy Street.

If you or someone you know, or someone you work with, is looking for support, please contact us by phone or email below. You can also drop in to our main office to make a self-referral or referral on behalf of a person with their consent. 

Main Office Phone Number:

ANGELA BIRCH – TEAM LEADER angie@starballymun.ie 0838967724

CATHY DUNCAN – DETACHED YOUTH SUBSTANCE WORKER cathyd@starballymun.ie 0861369594

TANYA RAY – – DETACHED YOUTH SUBSTANCE WORKER tanya@starballymun.ie 0861369257

MARK DAVIS – – DETACHED YOUTH SUBSTANCE WORKER markd@starballymun.ie 0861369162

MARK SUTTON – – DETACHED YOUTH SUBSTANCE WORKER marks@starballymun.ie 0861369394

JIMMY BELL – – DETACHED YOUTH SUBSTANCE WORKER jimmy@starballymun.ie 0861369657