Our Impact

“It’s good and hectic and fun here and, all in all, I find it easier to get myself up in the morning when I know I’m coming to RehabCare. I had never been to a gym before and now I’m getting very fit, the staff organise for us to go every week. I do press ups, lift weights and use the bicycles. In a few weeks, I’m going to be living independently, and paying my rent, and the staff here have helped me prepare for all that and helped me to figure out the payments and all the paperwork. I’ve got butterflies about it but I am looking forward to it, it’ll be great craic.”

J.J.

from RehabCare in Navan

“I worked all my life and was self-employed in the electrical industry. Through bowel disease and numerous hospitalisations, I developed a spinal abscess that left me paralysed with a pain. I didn’t want to come out of the house. I was in a bad place. Somebody phoned me up in 2006 and said to come in to RehabCare. To shut them up, I eventually came in. I’ve come here every week since. Everybody has a range of disabilities and I am able to relate to that. It’s good to talk to people in the same situation as me. I like the people here. I’ve been through the mill, and so have the people I’ve met here. The glass is half full.”

Joe

from RehabCare Park House, Stillorgan

“I’m grateful that I was introduced to RehabCare because I have matured a huge amount since I started here in 2017. I used to do things for attention but now I don’t feel like I have to do that anymore. I am listened to, and I also feel very independent. I have a lot of friends and we go on outings together. I am learning to travel on public transport on my own. My programme supervisor is helping me with money management and my I-Planit, and if there is ever a problem, I know I can talk to her about anything. I worry about lots of things but the supervisors here have found ways to help me reduce my anxiety. This place has really changed me. My dream is to do forensic science and I’m progressing here so much that I feel that someday I will be able to study it.”

Katie

from RehabCare in Wexford

“The best thing I do here is the drawings, the relaxation time and we always play great games on Wednesdays. I was bullied in school but then I went to NLN and I learned all kinds of things there about how to look after yourself and live independently. After NLN, I came here to RehabCare and there is loads for me to do. The horse riding was very tricky and scary at first but the staff were great and gave me confidence. If you believe in yourself, you can make it happen. I like trying new things that I’ve never done before. I learn how to not make mistakes but it can be difficult, especially traveling on my own. There’s loads to think about – what time the bus will arrive, where to get off. It can feel overwhelming but when something’s not going right for me, I can always talk to the staff here. You just have to have faith in yourself.”

John

from RehabCare in Navan

“I’ll be 32 this year, and I’ve been coming to this centre for a few years and it’s so great being active. The staff organise Job Shadow for us, it’s a great way to enjoy yourself and we help out different companies and they appreciate that. The staff are great; Bernard is the manager and he’s brilliant he is. The staff bring us out on the running pitch every week, a big gang of us from the centre. It makes me feel good to get the exercise. It’s a nice big building, I have a lot of friends – a lot of lads, actually, all the lads. They’re different ages but we all stick together. If I wasn’t coming here and seeing my friends, I think I would feel very left out.”

Joseph

from RehabCare in Cavan

“When I came to NLN, my confidence was on the floor. I was broken. It took some time working with the support staff in NLN, to build it back up again. The whole atmosphere in NLN is all about ‘I can’. It’s all about trying and trying again until you succeed. My confidence is restored. It changed my life. It is the most non-judgmental place in the world, it doesn’t matter what you walk in there with, you will be treated with respect and dignity”

Joseph Molloy

National Learning Network

“I do lots of activities here, we go on trips and we go to the gym and go for a coffee. I do a lot of art work and we do meditation together as a group in the mornings. We have great chats here together and have lots of craic. I am happy and I live in an apartment where there is a key worker there that I can talk to and who can help me if I need anything.”

Mary Catherine Reilly

RehabCare Castlbar