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Meet Rosie Meeks, Team Leader of our Floating Support Services.

With nearly 5 years at MACS, Rosie provides essential housing support to young people in Downpatrick and Newry. Every day brings new challenges, from team meetings to advocating for young people in crisis. We caught up with Rosie for a chat this month.

Can you tell us a little bit about your role at MACS and how long you’ve been here?

I’m a Team Leader for our Downpatrick & Newry Floating Support Services. This service provides housing related support to young people in the community. I’ve been at MACS for nearly 5 years, first as a Sessional Support Worker across our supported housing services, then as a Floating Support Worker and I started my current role about 6 months ago.

What does a typical day look like in your role?

Every day looks a bit different. I could be in Downpatrick, Newry or at our head office in Belfast or somewhere else. Regular features in my diary are team meetings and supervisions, there’s a lot of coffee, craic and snacks too! Backing my team to support young people in crisis situations also comes up a lot. I spend time meeting with colleagues in other organisations and I dabble in trying to influence decision makers on issues that affect our young people – I’m involved in some campaign work and also studying Social Policy part time.

What do you enjoy most about working with young people at MACS?

It’s an absolute privilege to walk with a young person for a while – to be allowed into their life and build a relationship of trust with them. Every young person is different and we can’t make the challenges they face disappear, but we can let them know we’re rooting for them. I had youth workers who did that for me when I was younger. To be able to do that for someone else is really special.

What challenges do young people face in your area of work, and how do you help them overcome these challenges?

The homelessness crisis and overwhelmed public services are not abstract concepts for our young people. Waiting lists for social homes or to get an appointment with a mental health professional can leave our young people in really scary and unsafe situations. Our workers are so brilliant at creatively supporting young people, and relentless in seeking out other ways to help young people get what they need. Sometimes our work is about showing young people we believe in them, trying to generate hope and helping them hold on. All the while

working with them on the more practical things like applying for housing or getting a doctor’s appointment too.

Can you share a memorable experience or success story from your time at MACS? 

One of my favourite moments at MACS was when I was driving a young person to an appointment quite far away. We had musical theatre songs blasting in the car and were singing along together. It stuck with me because it was a moment of fun and joy and often our young people are in the middle of some of the hardest things people ever have to go through. These moments are ‘the stuff” – the authentic relationships we build with our young people are probably the most important thing we do.

What’s something you wish more people understood about the work you do at MACS?

It’s so much more than just finding a young person somewhere to live. As I keep saying, relationships are at the centre of everything, but we also work with young people around education, money, addiction, mental health, jobs, motivation, living skills and more!

Why do you think the service you provide is so important for young people?

It’s so hard for young people to find homes right now. Lots of young people don’t have safe places to live or family they can call on for help out of a difficult situation. It’s vital that services like MACS Floating Support can step in to guide young people round the likes of the benefits & housing systems, to advocate for them or even just to be that person who makes a cuppa and provides a listening ear.

How do you see MACS making a difference in the lives of young people?

MACS does its best to stick with young people through ups and downs. Sometimes we get the outcome of helping a young person find a safe place to call home, get on the course they wanted or find a job they thrive in and we love to celebrate these wins. Other times the difference we make is more about a young person simply knowing they matter to somebody and that is massive.

What motivates you to keep doing this work?

For me, there is a something I carry in me that says – it shouldn’t be this way, we can do better by our young people. It’s about hope and trying to build futures, for each individual young person but also for our wider society.

Is there anything you’d like to say to people who might not know about MACS or the services we provide?

I work with some of the kindest, most dedicated, capable people you could hope to meet and I am so proud to have them as my colleagues.