Depaul International is the parent charity of the Depaul Group, a group of charities that works across the world with a mission to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it.

134440 individuals supported last year across the Group
10915903 meals are prepared and shared across all countries
627098 Bed-nights are provided to keep people safe
692 Volunteers add value alongside our staff teams
IRELAND
IRELAND
USA
USA
UK
UK
FRANCE
FRANCE
UKRAINE
UKRAINE
SLOVAKIA
SLOVAKIA
CROATIA
CROATIA
IRELAND
USA
UK
FRANCE
UKRAINE
SLOVAKIA
CROATIA

What we do

Depaul makes a difference to people around the world who are disadvantaged and experiencing homelessness

Our Impact

Innovation and growth

We provide a platform for Group members to share and develop new approaches to ending homelessness – informed by best practice and stemming from their own experience. We also establish new subsidiaries in countries where we can improve what is on offer, or, where there is an identified lack of services for people experiencing homelessness.

Support

We support other Group members to provide the highest standards of governance, finance and service provision. We also help develop capacity where needed, share expertise, support fundraising activities, and build networks of influence.

Living our values

We ensure that the Groups shared Vincentian values are embedded in all aspects of organisational life and inform the decisions we make. To achieve this goal, we organise and develop training and formation programmes to make sure that everyone, from the front-line to the boardroom, understands and lives our values.

Advocacy

Depaul International (on behalf of the Group) partners with Depaul University in Chicago to oversee the Institute of Global Homelessness – a global research, advocacy and leadership development forum providing a global voice for the issue of homelessness. We also coordinate the Famvin Homeless Alliance that delivers practical partnership projects and lobbies for systemic change for homeless people across the world by bringing together homelessness charities that work in the spirit of St Vincent de Paul.

OUR STORY

St Vincent de Paul

We owe our inspiration to St Vincent de Paul, a major Catholic social reformer in 17th Century France. St Vincent devoted his life to helping vast numbers of poor, sick and homeless people across Europe during his lifetime.

He is often referred to as the “Patron Saint of Charity” and today over 150 charitable organisations, comprising a membership of two million people, claim him as their founder.  

St Vincent de Paul

In the beginning…

Three of these organisations came together to establish the Depaul Group in 1989 – the Daughters of Charity, the Passage Day Centre and the Society of St Vincent de Paul. Depaul began its work in the UK in 1989 as a direct response to the growth of youth homelessness on the streets of London.

It quickly grew into a national charity in the UK and, in 2002, began expanding internationally, starting in Ireland and then to the other countries of the Group. 

Sr Sarah King-Turner, Sr Barbara Smith and Mark McGreevy

A Global effort

All Depaul Group members are independent entities in their own right and focus on the specific needs of people experiencing homelessness in their country. From its very beginnings Depaul has been inclusive of all faiths or none.

What holds us together as a Group are our Vincentian values which come directly from the teachings of St Vincent de Paul himself. These values include a commitment to helping the poorest of the poor and to placing actions ahead of words.

Celebrating 30 years of Depaul

Our Values
We celebrate the potential in people
We put our words into action
We take a wider role in civil society
We believe in rights and responsibilities
We celebrate the potential in people We put our words into action We take a wider role in civil society We believe in rights and responsibilities
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