I started working with NOVAS as a project worker just before Christmas 2003 when Arlington Lodge first opened its doors. I was lucky enough that, as it was a new project, there were plenty of jobs going and I managed to get one of them. On 15th of December we welcomed our first residents. It was a very exciting time for me. Although I had done some volunteer work previously my experience was limited and I found it such a privilege to get to know and work with all the residents. That sense of privilege is something that I still feel very strongly and I feel incredibly lucky to make a living from spending time with so many special people. There was a great staff team in Arlington too, many of whom are still working with NOVAS today. As a service Arlington Lodge has evolved a lot since the beginning but the very warm, welcoming and congenial atmosphere has persevered.
After over five years of project working I was appointed to the role of Deputy Manager. This role gave me new experiences and insight. I was very well supported by the service manager Tom Wall and although we had one or two small disagreements over the years, generally I got on great with the staff team and I really enjoyed working with them. I tried to be and hope I was fair with them. In total I spent 12 years working in Arlington Lodge and it was very challenging at times, but mostly it was good fun and time spent with very good people.
Although I have been working for NOVAS for a good while, I didn’t have any formal qualifications in Social Care. Qualifications alone won’t make a good social care worker but I felt that I needed to educate myself further as to the current developments, theory and evidence base behind Social Care work. On a personal level I also thought it important to have an academic qualification to back up the practical experience I had gained. Returning to education was something that I had put off for a while, not least because of the time and financial commitment. I paid for that procrastination however, because when I finally went for it and signed up to do a Masters in Social Care in IT Tralee, it coincided with me having two children. There was an awful lot of work involved, home was pretty busy and there were plenty of times when I thought “what the hell have you got yourself into”, but I have to say it was one of the best professional decisions I’ve made. I gained a lot of new skills, knowledge and perspective. I think that institutionalisation can affect people working in residential centres as well as people living in them and I believe that doing the masters helped me step outside that space and see things with a freshness and a reinforced enthusiasm to strive for Social Justice. Although it was very hard at times, with a lot of patience and understanding from my wife Fiona and support and flexibility from Tom Wall and Anne Cronin, I managed to get through it and graduated this October.
Thankfully in my experience, NOVAS have been very open to promoting development among staff and last year an opportunity presented itself. NOVAS were foolish enough to put me in charge of Knocklee by myself. Luckily there’s very good staff there too and the residents are all very kind and go easy on me. It’s a lovely service, the pace is much slower than Arlington but the atmosphere is still very much dictated by the kindness and spirit of the great people that live there.
My 13 years working with NOVAS have flown by. I’ve found them to be a very good organisation to work for and an organisation that does its best to look after clients and staff alike, which is lucky because I’ve about 25 more years to wait till retirement so they’ll probably be stuck with me for another while.
Category: Client & Tenant Stories
Luke’s Story
My Name is Luke and I’m writing to tell you how the service that is NOVAS changed my life. For many years of my life I was lost, I spent the time drinking excessively and drug taking…looking for acceptance in all the wrong places. My addiction took me to a very lonely place in my life, completely breaking me; mentally, physically and emotionally. Eventually my addiction left me homeless and it was around this time that I got in contact with NOVAS in Thurles. I didn’t know it at the time but it would turn out to be the best thing I have ever done, and the beginning of the rest of my life. NOVAS helped me to get a place in residential treatment to deal with my issues, it was a long hard road to even get in the door but they supported me every step of the way, even coming to visit me during my programme.
Over two years on now and after a lot of help from NOVAS and some hard work from myself I have completely turned my life around. I’ve been substance free for two years, I have a full time job, I’m living in a three bedroom house and have a great relationship with my family again. Life couldn’t be better. I will be forever grateful to the staff in Mitchel Street who showed me there was hope when I thought there was none, for pushing me to always be the best I can be and for their continued support to this day. Life will never be the same again.
Thank you NOVAS!
Margaret’s Story
My name is Margaret and I have been a resident of Haarlem Court Apartments in Firhouse since last November. Previously I had been living in private accommodation for twelve years on the R.A.S. scheme.
I became ill four years ago and my accommodation was becoming unsuitable to my needs. I was struggling to get up and down the stairs and as there was no bathroom downstairs it was restricting me a lot. Soon afterwards my landlady informed me that she was going to sell the house and my two daughters and I were given notice.
I contacted the council and was told to make an application for accommodation based on medical grounds. I got the relevant information, made an application and was accepted. All I had to do was wait for something to come up. As I had to go back into hospital my family had to try deal with the issue of accommodation. As it stood we had nowhere to go when I was discharged from hospital which was very upsetting. Then out of the blue Haarlem Court was offered to us. After viewing it I was amazed at the size of it, the decor and how well it was finished. It had everything I needed on one floor and an outside garden which was a bonus.
Sabrina and Michael came to the hospital for me to sign the contract which was great. To have somewhere I will not be put out of and is mine gives me peace of mind and security.
I love living here, it’s quiet the neighbours are nice and Sabrina is at the other end of the phone if I have any problems. I consider myself very lucky to have this apartment and look forward to spending a long, happy life in it.
Richard’s Story
I wrote a story in May, about my life since I was a child and the ups and downs I have had. As you can see I said “had”, a small word but it means a lot to me. I am now writing about the life I have NOW and what has changed in my life in one year and wow it is just amazing.
This time last year I was in a very, very black hole with absolutely no light at the end of it. It felt like absolute hell on earth if that’s what you can call it. All I wanted to do was die, I just wanted my life to end no matter what.
You might ask, how did it all change for me? Well, one day Eugene Toner (Brother Russell House Manager), a very clever man, asked me had I ever considered that maybe it’s a psychological issue I had and not an issue with alcohol. At the time I just laughed but he was actually right.
I ended up asking myself why not give it a go and try and stay away from drink and spend some time working on the psychological side of things and see if that worked for me. I started partaking in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions with Louise (another NOVAS staff member). I gave 100% to these sessions and I found it actually started to work for me. I also started focusing on doing some meditation to help me relax. Now don’t get me wrong it was very, very hard but I always knew in the back of my mind that I had the full support of staff in Brother Russell House, who I think of as my family.
I also started to get involved in other activities around the house such as the gazebo project which involved residents from Brother Russell House and PALLS coming together to build a gazebo for the house. I started gardening and going to the gym. I was open to doing anything that took my mind off the demon that is drink.
I started telling myself that there is a life for me and I stopped thinking about ending mine. This is something I never thought I would be writing.
My keyworker Keira Fitzpatrick mentioned going back to college. Again I laughed. I never went to an ordinary school, never mind college. Now after months of going through hell, constantly fighting a battle of suicidal thoughts going on inside my head and having no drink to help me cope it really felt like I was swimming against the tide and drowning.
So one day I said to myself “go for it”, it meaning college. It was then I decided to swim with the tide and by God everything in my life started to change. People were showing me respect and this respect was not out of fear as I felt it was before. This time it felt like genuine respect, man that is a great feeling.
Before I go any further, I just want to say that all this change never would have happened without the support of NOVAS and the staff in Brother Stephen Russell House, this is something I want to emphasise.
Now I am nearly a year into my sobriety and I have now taken what is hopefully the final twist in my life (Ha!). I participated in a sleep out for the homeless on the 10th October and met a wonderful girl and we hit it off straight away. We became the best of friends and now thank God, you can see how this is bringing out the child in me, we are boyfriend and girlfriend!
The moral of this story is strange. I have come from living on the streets, being in institutions, being in prison and having so many ups and downs to finding NOVAS’ Brother Stephen Russell House and I can honestly say my life is finally coming together. I have actually found peace of mind, happiness, have had the experience of doors opening for me and most of all I can say I have actually found love. Angie is her name by the way.
I still have demons going on inside my head but thankfully I have people who actually care about me, i.e. NOVAS and my family in Brother Stephen Russell House. It is onward, upward and positive thinking for me from here. This past year is the first time in my life I feel I have had closure and feel it is a new beginning for me. So for now I say bring on the next year (Yes, Yes, Yes!!).
I have always wondered what the word normal meant and now I know it is just being myself.
Novas’ Street Outreach
Rose & I decided to get involved with the ‘Soup Run’ having watched the television programme ‘Secret Millionaire’ with Richard Mulcahy. We were both discussing the programme in the office and decided we would look into getting involved with the project. We rang Sinead, who was the co-ordinator at the time. She agreed to meet with us during our lunch break and gave us a summary of what was involved and told us we would have training on same. So we started in October 2012 along with a volunteer who was experienced and would drive the van. We didn’t really have a clue what was involved but we learnt very quickly. Initially we collected our van and supplies in the Old Brother Russell Home before it was demolished but this was changed to McGarry House during the renovations. We set up a table and give out the dinners, sandwiches, tea, coffee and soups from a designated spot on O’Connell Street.
We meet every Monday evening at Brother Russell at 6.30pm along with our driver. We load up our van and head for the Greenhills to collect the hot dinners, and then we go to Hook & Ladder restaurant where we collect some more really nice scones and muffins. We aim to get to our distribution point at about 7.00pm where people will have started congregating. We give out dinners initially, then a sandwich and tea/coffee/soup and maybe some scones and muffins if people would like them.
I think we both agree that during the course of the two years we have been involved with NOVAS and the ‘Soup Run’ we have met really nice people along the way who tell us how much they appreciate what we are doing. It is easy for us, the volunteers, to give a very small bit of our time each Monday evening, we can then go back to our homes, have a nice dinner and a warm bed at the end of the night.
Some of the people we meet tell us they are living on the streets or in very cold, dreary flats. Some are just bedding down on couches with friends and others are waiting and waiting to try and get a roof over their heads. We feel it is a very good service that NOVAS are providing. Some of the clients we know feel embarrassed to be queuing up for food but we reassure them and we never question why they are there and that we are here if they want to have a chat or need not if they so wish.
We both enjoy doing the ‘Soup Run’ and hope to be there for the long haul! We feel the Greenhills Hotel and Hook & Ladder are to be commended for supplying really nice food to such a worthy cause. Who knows the day when any one of us could be in that position and would be in need of a hand. I am glad we are able to help in some small way and hopefully the service will continue for as long as it is needed.
Frank’s Story
Frank, 50, a resident of Brother Russell House, shares his story on how NOVAS helped turn his life around.
At four years of age I was sent to school in a local convent, which also became my home. Life there was hard and we weren’t treated very well. I remained there for 10 years, but would often meet my father in town at the weekends. It was he who introduced me to alcohol when I was about 10 years old, and that’s when my drinking started.
At 17 I joined the army, where I started to drink heavily and constantly. I was thrown out of the army after 3 1/2 years because of my drinking habits. From there my life descended into chaos. I lived in a couple of flats but was never able to maintain them due to my alcohol addiction, my relationships failed also.
Things hit rock bottom a couple of years later, when I lived on the streets of Ennis for 1 1/2 years. For most of that period I lived in a tent on the church grounds. There was nothing good about this time. It was so cold and so lonely. I had nowhere to wash or shave. The winters were the hardest of all. There were times I thought I would die like this. It was the worst time of my life.
This period ended in a jail sentence, after I broke into an off licence. While prison was hard, it was better than the streets, nothing was worse than being homeless. From prison I went straight to Brother Russell House, and it was there I began to turn my life around.
At the beginning I continued to drink heavily. I was difficult to deal with and my addiction continued to escalate. However, the staff stuck with me, even though there must have been times they wanted to give up. With their support and care, I began to cut down on my drinking. I drew up a drinking contract with the manager, Eugene, where I was allowed some cans after 7pm while I watched the soaps. I was not allowed to drink during the day and I was never allowed to drink spirits. I have abided by this contract for many years now. I am no longer a danger to myself or to those around me.
Around the same time I was offered work in the kitchens of Brother Russell. I work there three days a week, helping the chef prepare food and making sure the place is clean. It’s a great way to keep me busy during the day, to keep me distracted from drink. The staff have also recently helped me make contact with my daughters in England, and we now exchange letters. I am so grateful for this.
I have tried to live independently on a couple of occasions in the last few years, but it always breaks down. I don’t think I’m able to live on my own. Brother Russell is where I belong. It has given me dignity and a purpose. I was treated with compassion and patience and I will be forever grateful. This is my home now, the only home I’ve had since I was 4 years old.
Thank you
NOVAS Respite
My Dream House 26/10/2016
It was the beginning of winter 2008 and I was sitting in the garden looking at the trees shedding the rest of the autumn leaves. My mind was racing and I was thinking of my ill son who was in the thrones of drug addiction and how he would survive another winter of living rough on the street, was there another way of helping him get better? My heart was a black sea of pain, my own life had become unmanageable and my family was in chaos. If he had cancer or any other disease than being addicted to drugs. I was grieving for that, I had lost my beautiful son to drugs. I was addicted and obsessed with getting him better, I could not let it go, it was all about him, where he was, what he was doing, would he overdose? Would he be murdered? I was dwelling in the past.
My phone rang and it was my friend who had been to NOVAS House Newport Tipperary. Her voice was full of joy and what a lovely day she had. She gave me the phone number of NOVAS` House, so the following day I rang for an appointment to go and visit. We arranged to meet and have a brief chat and a cup of tea with one of the respite workers.
Of course my intentions were I would go and find a cure or another way of fixing my son. In a fortnight`s time I was welcomed into the house where I was greeted by two lovely respite workers, we sat in the conservatory with a cup of tea and a scone. We talked endlessly, I felt the house was a very safe place, homely and relaxed. It was all about me, how I was coping, it was all about my welfare and I was to focus on my life and that what I was going through was alright.
The respite workers were so nice, compassionate and professional. Only for NOVAS House…it helped me deal with my son and take the focus off him and put it back on me. There is light and hope at the end of the tunnel. I helped me to relax, meditate and enjoy the beautiful gardens and surrounding countryside around NOVAS` house.
I was also given a choice of therapies which were provided by compassionate, understanding gifted people. I felt so refreshed and revitalised, there was a release of tensions and negative energy that I had repressed in my body. I hadn’t been able to let it go for years.
I was so depressed, there was enormous pain, grief, sadness, shame, guilt, frustration, anger and isolation that I had suppressed, and I had the same symptoms as an addicted person. Looking back my past had moulded my future.
My life has now improved immensely, I have a new way of dealing with life, and I am more aware and educated. I have to thank the staff of NOVAS respite house for their support and understanding which has helped me live a normal fulfilled life. I look forward to the visits and treatments in NOVAS respite house every six weeks. I am grateful and fortunate to be a part of NOVAS` respite house. It has given me a better, healthier relationship with my son. I am not judgmental, I have let go. NOVAS house is my dream house. Thank you for having me.
Live life go to NOVAS respite House,
Long-time visitor to NOVAS respite house. C.B
Intensive Family Support Story
I was four months pregnant when I came to NOVAS looking for help. Both my partner and I were homeless, living in a caravan in Southill. Everyone had given up on us because I wasn’t attending school and I wasn’t doing what the professionals asked of me. We weren’t safe in the caravan, there was no running water and a horse shared the garden with us. We were looking for a place of our own, without success. No landlord would take us because we were going looking at the apartments, having had no sleep or no shower.
When we presented to the IFS, they moved us to a B&B straight away. We then moved to McGarry house, but that wasn’t very suitable to our needs either. From there our keyworker helped us get a flat. She continues to help us now, with money management and payment of bills and rent. She helps us keep a roof over our child’s head. If we are ever short something, or need something, we’d come straight to NOVAS. They are so welcoming. There is nothing we’ve asked of them that they haven’t done.
(Testimonial from couple who are successfully housed with their baby for the last 6 months. The IFS continue to work with them around tenancy sustainment).
Bridgeland House
For much of my adult life I lived in poverty on the fringes of homelessness in Cork. Things came to a head in 2003, following a drinking session in my flat in which I sustained serious injuries.The landlord told me I had to go.
At the time I was on probation and my probation officer suggested I move to Tralee to NOVAS’ services there. I needed to move from Cork, so was happy to go. In the past, I had overdosed on many occasions, physically injured myself, got in fights and was in two serious car crashes, puncturing my brain. Things had to change.
I moved to Arlington Lodge, where I stayed for three and a half months. I got great help from the staff there and I ended up going to Liverpool playing soccer for the homeless. However things didn’t work out for me there and I ended up moving to Bridgeland House in Limerick.
I loved it in Bridgeland. I got on well with all the residents and staff. At the beginning I drank there every day and ended up making another nuisance of myself. I also dabbled in drugs which resulted in me getting in trouble with the court services again. I felt that things were going really badly for me.
The staff were so supportive and arranged a month’s respite for me. After my return, I managed to abstain from drink and drugs and moved to smaller accommodation in which you were not allowed to drink. At the same time I started doing some voluntary work in Bridgeland House, cleaning and cooking mostly. I did that for over a year. It kept me busy and sober. I felt really good after a day’s work, it gave me confidence. I was so grateful that management had offered me a chance.
A position for locum work arose and I applied. I was offered a job and did this for over a year. A night safety attendant job then became available. I got this job and was absolutely delighted. I’ve been in this job now for three years. I love my job, working with residents. With what I’ve been through and the help that I’ve gotten, I like giving something back. I’m living in my own flat now. I never thought I’d see the day when I could be living on my own. Before, I couldn’t sit in my own space; I had to have drink or drugs. Now I don’t even think of that.
I got more help from NOVAS than any other place I’ve ever been. People listened to me when I was having bad days. No one ever judged me. The amount of chances I got from NOVAS are more than I ever got anywhere else in my life. I think that only for NOVAS I wouldn’t be alive and well and I wouldn’t be where I am today.
56 Mitchel St, Thurles Story
Letter of appreciation from a person who was one of the first tenants in our new service in Thurles.
When I was first told I would be accommodated in Mitchel Street I was of course happy, but a little apprehensive as local rumors about it weren’t good.
When I met the two managers on my first day, they were so friendly and made me feel so welcome. I relaised immediately that all the negative talk about this house was false. The house was inviting and warm, it was a home away from home. The facilities were very good, everything I needed was provided. 56 Mitchel Street was not just a place to sleep, it was much more that that, it helped me improve my life skills and I learned so much.
After a few days in the house I was settled in. I felt safe there. There were so many benefits in staying at 56 Mitchel Street for me, I felt welcome and wanted and part of a big family.
The staff were amazing in the house, they always looked out for my best interests and always made sure I was safe. If I had any worries they always listened to me. Day or night the staff were always there for me and I found that very reassuring.
Now I am moving on to my own apartment and I feel really confident in living on my own. The staff have taught me everything I need to know about budgeting and paying rent and basic life skills. I am of course very sad to be leaving but I now feel I am totally ready to move on and I feel that somebody else can benefit from my place in 56 Mitchel Street.
The staff have been very supportive in my decision to move out. They are amazing people and have become more than just staff to me, I would count them as friends, friends that have changed my life for the best and I am sincerely grateful to everyone of them.
