Irish Red Cross honours Jay for his work with Tiglin and The Lighthouse Café

(From the April - June 2021 issue of VOX)

Jay Bobinac was homeless and sleeping rough in Dublin when he first arrived at The Lighthouse. Today the 24-year-old manages the soup kitchen and oversees community employment opportunities with Dublin Christian Mission and Tiglin. He shared his story with VOX magazine:

Every country in the world has the Red Cross. It was a really high honour to win the Young Humanitarian of the Year for Ireland. I’m glad to be the face but it is a testament to the whole team and what we do here.

I am community employment supervisor with Tiglin and with Dublin Christian Mission. At the moment we serve around 200 - 250 meals per day at the Lighthouse Café in Pearse Street and we also provide clothes and refer people to other services. We’ve been doing that for a year now throughout the pandemic. Our community employment programme helps to prepare people for employment. The vast majority come from addiction background. They might work with us for six months or stay for as long as two years working in the soup kitchen and gaining experience.

I grew up on a rural island in Croatia. It was a very different society. I left at the age of 19 and was homeless in Dublin. During that time, I connected with The Lighthouse. I was sleeping rough in St Stephen’s Green and Phoenix Park. The city was my house and the Lighthouse was like my living room. It was more than just a place to eat. I met Joe Murphy (from The Lighthouse) and Aubrey McCarthy (from Tiglin) and they helped me a lot. I wasn’t the most sociable person but a lot of people engaged with me. One thing I noticed was that they focused on doing things rather than preaching - it was about deeds not words.

I think there is a saying, whoever gives a cup of cold water will surely be rewarded. I have received much more than a just cup of water!

The turning point came in 2016. I got a room with transitional housing from Dublin Christian Mission with a reasonable rent and thanks to the range of programme supports from Tiglin and The Lighthouse, I was able to begin studying. I continued volunteering with them while I completed my degree in Social Care and I am now studying for my Masters.

“Without relationship, you won’t ever be able to help people to change.”

Today, I have come full circle and I am managing the place where I came in as a service user. I often meet people who are destitute and vulnerable. They need more than food. They need a connection. It is easier for me to help others because I was the one that was helped. I have an in-depth understanding. You need somebody to be there for you.

The people who come back over and over again don’t come for food, they come for friendship. There is not a big differentiation between the client and the person working. They are on the same plane; everybody is treated equally. I have many friendships with the guys out there. Without relationship, you won’t ever be able to help people to change. That is what makes it happen. You see somebody for who they are. People crave that sense of community and belonging. That is the key element.

People who come in to volunteer or through community employment may have never had a family environment in their lives. They are vulnerable but the way things are structured here means that everybody finds a sense of belonging.

With the Christen ethos, there is a time of prayer for 30 minutes before work begins. Everybody joins in and they pray for anybody who needs support. For example, today the mother of one of the volunteers was sick, so everybody was praying for her.

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