We are a brand new, Irish foundation dedicated to improving the mental-health of young people.
Helping with Hope
The primary goal of JC Foundation is to support community organisations that benefit young adults who are struggling with mental-health and substance abuse.
JC Foundation is made possible by our partners, The Ink Factory & PIERCED.ie.
Stephen Grellet
Event Fundraiser
Details of our 2023 edition of our annual tattoo drive for suicide prevention and positive mental health promotion will be released soon.
Dedication
JC Foundation was established in response to the tragic loss of John Connolly (founder of The Ink Factory) at the age of 33. The Foundation is dedicated to increasing awareness of mental-health issues in young adults and tackling the stigma around reaching out for help.
Beneficiaries
The Canal Communities Regional Addiction Service wishes to thank JC Foundation for its generous grant of €50,000 towards the cost of employing a part-time Well-Being Support Worker to work with young people who are struggling with mental health and substance use problems. This is a joint initiative involving the three youth projects in the Canal Communities area of Dublin: Bluebell Youth Project, Core Youth Project (Inchicore) and Rialto Youth Project. The vital support of JC Foundation will allow CCRA to fund this role for 2+ years.
The worker will be employed for 18 hours per week and will be based for 6 hours in each of the youth projects weekly. Their role will be to provide support to young people which go beyond those that can be provided already by youth workers. With a background in mental health, youth, and community addiction work, the worker will engage one-to-one with each young person to help them identify the causes of their difficulties and develop better skills to cope with them. They will also run education and prevention courses with groups of young people, aiming to prevent and reduce harm due to mental health issues and substance use.
Between them, the three projects work annually with about 200 individuals aged 15 to 18. The organisations provide educational, recreational and social activities for young people, aiming to build up close supportive relationships which can help them to feel safe, valued and happy. The new worker will add to the projects’ existing support system to young people, their families and communities. They will provide specialist help when teenagers and young adults are weighed down by mental health problems or by issues related to substance misuse. In recent years, the projects have been unable to provide access to enough of this kind of specialist support. Having a skilled, experienced and compassionate worker on site – someone who will have the opportunity to build up trusting relationships with participants in the projects – will make a real difference to the lives of many young people. Without the support of JC Foundation, this initiative would not be possible.