For Purpose Tuesdays - March 2023

Graduate Presentations

Last week, we held our monthly For Purpose Tuesday session. Two of our graduates presented an overview of their careers to the entire group of For Purpose Graduates. This peer-led learning aspect of our For Purpose Tuesday session is extremely important for our graduates.

Not only do they learn about the role of their peers, but they gain insight into another social impact organisation. At For Purpose, learning about other mission-driven organisations is encouraged to gain a broader understanding of their purpose, structure and impact.

Eoghan Cregan, Housing Officer at Co-operative Housing Ireland

Eoghan holds a particular interest in community development. Therefore, upon completion of his MSc in Sustainable Development, he applied for the role of Housing Officer with Co-operative Housing. He was accepted in the role in May 2022, joined For Purpose and has been thriving in his career ever since.

Eoghan presented the history of CHI, and outlined his role in detail.

About Co-operative Housing Ireland - Role as Housing Officer

Eoghan’s role as a Housing Officer is extremely diverse. The role requires him to work on sensitive cases that must be handled with empathy, positive communication and assertion.

It is very important in this position, to be as humane as possible. You never know why certain members of CHI have fallen into arrears and it’s important to show empathy/understanding.

He works across the following areas:

Arrears & Financial Inclusion

Making calls to members, issuing arrears, engaging with the RTB for mediation or termination, offering support.

Neighbourhood safety and social inclusion

It is important to address any anti-social behaviour across estates and create inclusion programmes in conjunction with other public services – such as mental health supports/ community engagement.

Easing the strain of the housing crisis

Providing families with the opportunity to a ‘forever home’, as long as they upkeep the rules of their tenancy agreement.

Estate management

Eoghan ensures the CHI estates are maintained to a very high standard. Engaging with contractors, monitoring and evaluating the condition of the estates, addressing repair requests.

Group Task

Eoghan provided a scenario and see how we would respond to a difficult member of CHI. This got our graduates thinking about the best way to approach potentially vulnerable members of society. Engagement in practical scenarios with other graduates was a great way to encourage

Niamh Fennell, Jigsaw

Our next graduate was Niamh Fennell, Youth Voice & Engagement Officer at Jigsaw. At the age of 16, Niamh became a Jigsaw Youth Advocate in my local Jigsaw service. Upon completion of her BSc in Community and Youth Work, Niamh applied for the Youth Voice & Engagement Officer role in May 2022, was successful, and joined For Purpose.

Group Task

Niamh presented the Lundy Model of Participation (see image). This framework is a useful starting point for supporting children’s participation. Niamh asked our graduates how they can use this same framework in their own organisation – by acknowledging space, voice, audience and influence.

Niamh’s role

How to engage with youth when communicating and ensuring their voice is heard. Niamh’s role is also very diverse, covering areas such as:

• Public speaking
• Youth voice engagement through events, professional training,
• Niamh’s role involves facilitating events, training, and representing her team as the youth advocate