Councillor Vicky Casserly has opened applications for the Stewarts Care Supported Independent Living Programme at an event in Rossecourt Training Centre, Balgaddy, Lucan. Stewarts Care is a voluntary organisation providing comprehensive community-based services to people with intellectual disabilities. The Supported Independent Living Programme is a training programme designed to enhance a person’s ability to live in their own home, in their local community as independently as possible.
The programme forms part of Stewarts Care’s Strategy (2022-2026) which focuses on enriching the lives of the people served by Stewarts Care through providing the right service, for the right person, at the right time. The programme takes a person-centred approach to supporting participants to live more independently. Participants are supported and enabled to make their own choices and decisions and to create meaningful roles for themselves in the community that they live in.
Speaking at the event, Councillor Vicki Casserly commented, “I am delighted to open applications for this hugely worthwhile programme delivered by Stewarts Care. The right to live independently and be included in the community is enshrined in article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and is a key element of the HSE’s reform programme, Transforming Lives.Stewarts Care has supported a number of people to live as they choose, in the communities they choose and to have meaningful roles in these communities. These communities benefit from this integration and immersion by having a diverse and active population. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the programme and all of the people who are signing up today. Through partnership and collaboration, I have no doubt you will contribute massively to the communities you live in, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey”.
Building on the Transforming Lives Programme and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, Stewarts Care has partnered with various organisations to not only prepare and support individuals to live independently but to secure appropriate housing for them to live in. Since the programme first launched in 2012, Stewarts Care has supported 17 participants to live in communities across Tallaght, Clondalkin, Neilstown, Adamstown and Lucan.
Stewarts Care is now firmly focused on expanding the number of people supported to live independently in their community and influencing policy at a national and local level. Stewarts Care is proud to represent the voice of the people it serves through the organisation’s membership of South Dublin County Council’s Housing Steering Group. Through this forum, Stewarts Care aspires to build capacity at a local level and to enable people to have a voice in the conversations that impact them.
Laura Sweeney, Supported Independent Living Manager at Stewarts Care, said: “We know that we can only achieve the ambitious goals of this programme through a partnership approach. A key component of the Supported Independent Living Programme is providing suitable, high-quality housing to the participants. We are very grateful for the continued support of all our partners in providing suitable accommodation including the HSE, South Dublin County Council, Clúid Housing and Tuath Housing.”
Stewarts Care has developed two training apartments to support participants to achieve the goals of the programme. Both apartments contain all the elements of a true-to-life apartment but with additional training facilities to enhance learning in a real-life setting. Internal and external trainers, and support workers, work as a team to deliver training along with support from Stewarts Care’s multi-disciplinary inhouse teams including day services, social work, occupational therapy, psychology, psychiatry and adapted physical activity. The programme is open to people over the age of 18 who are already accessing the services provided by Stewarts Care. For more information on how to apply, applicants can visit the Stewarts Care website www.stewartscare.ie
Pictured: Aidan Farrell, Cllr. Vicki Casserly, Brendan O’Connor & Laura Sweeney.
