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

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

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).

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.

At the end of 2019 NOVAS established it’s first Family Tenancy Sustainment service in Dublin. In collaboration with Fingal County Council, we housed 52 families during the Covid-19 pandemic. These families had been living in emergency accommodation, confined to one bedrooms in hotels & B&B’s. We are thrilled to supported them move to their own homes.

Here Kieran and Joan share their story:

We lived on a halting site for 20 years, we got married and had our children who were raised there. Overtime the halting site became very messy, dirt and rubbish started building up and new buildings started popping up everywhere around us. We tried to keep it tidy as much as we could but the dirt was attracting rats and the toilet facilities were absolutely horrific. We felt really low in ourselves, we were concerned for our children. We had to hand wash our children as we had no running water. The children would have to use buckets at night time when using the toilet. They had nowhere to play so we had to keep our kids indoors most of the time as it was not safe on the site. We feel the children could not be like children, they were losing out. There was no space in the caravan, we were living on top of each other. The caravan was very cold in the winter, electricity would constantly go off and the caravan floor was damp, with it falling through at one stage. Living in this environment was stressful. We were ashamed living in these conditions compared to now.

We were picked to move into our new home. Coming from a halting site and moving into a settle community was great. We felt very welcome as the NOVAS staff introduced us to one of our neighbours. They made us feel very welcome. As a family we have our own space and our relationships are improving. We became very excited as we started to picture decorating our new home before Christmas. The children were very excited and the kids started arguing about picking their rooms. The kids are settling in and they are doing much better in school and making friends in the community. We feel very safe and don’t feel locked in. We feel that we are part of a community and take great pride in our new home. We have a back garden so the kids can play.

We feel so grateful that we had the support moving and continue to receive support from our support worker, Pamela. Now we have a fresh start and a new life.

Before I moved to my new home I lived in emergency accommodation for eight months.   I was in the middle of receiving chemotherapy treatment and had two children to care for.

In the emergency accommodation I received a lot of support from the staff but there was a lot of shouting, and noise and I found it very hard to sleep.  The children were also affected by this and they were scared most of the time.  I felt I could not control my children and found this very stressful.

When I was receiving treatment the staff were very good to me by looking after my children but I felt it was not my own home and I had to constantly remind my children that we needed to wait to move into a new home.  The children were sad living there as the noise was really bad which caused them to be anxious.  I felt I was in a prison, as my friends could not come and see me.  I was always sitting in the house.  I felt very stressed.  The only faces I seen were the staff and the children.  I use to cry in the middle of the night and did not sleep for many nights.

I could not paint or decorate my home and the children became very upset as they wanted to hang pictures because they love drawing and colouring.  It’s a prison and I found it very hard to live here.  I felt I had no address, no platform.   I missed my friends and the company.

When I first saw my home I felt it was a miracle.  The first thing I asked was if I could hang the children’s pictures up on the wall!  The children are very happy as they could now express themselves and show off their art by hanging their pictures on the wall.  The children can play outside and move around freely.  The children are so happy and they went crazy when they first saw their new home and they love their bedrooms.  They play in the back garden and we plan to buy a trampoline to play on.  My little boy loves gardening and now we have our own garden.  We plan to grow seeds and plant flowers.    I received a donation from NOVAS.  It was a TV which the children are very grateful for.  They have not watched TV for eight months because I was saving to buy furniture for a possible new home.  I was very happy to learn that my new home will be fully furnished.  This took so much stress away from me and my family.

I have also support from my support worker, Susan, who can help me out with different things.  My friends can come over and visit now, I’m not alone here.  I just introduced myself to my neighbours and they are really nice.  I have already planned to have friends to come visit my new home.  Now I have an address, somewhere to call home, somewhere my children can be happy and can express themselves.  This is my home, this is my address.  I can now sleep in peace.