‘Everybody should have the right to live in a house in a community’

FOUR NEW accessible homes have been delivered at Hillfort in Kill, Co. Kildare, thanks to a Templeogue-based Cheeverstown partnership.

The bungalows were delivered in partnership between Co-operative Housing Ireland, Cheeverstown, Kildare County Council, South Dublin County Council, the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage, the HSE and Lagan Homes.

Hillfort is located a short distance from Kill village and is very much integrated into the local community.

The homes support Cheeverstown’s commitment to community-based supported living, enabling people with intellectual disabilities to live in their own homes with access to the support they need.

The voluntary organisation’s Facilities Manager Elaine Wilkinson stated that everyone should have the right to be part of a community.

Wilkinson continued: “Everybody should have the right to live in a house in the community, with neighbours next door, rather than in a congregated setting with a large group of people they did not choose to live with.

“They should have the same opportunities as everyone else. They should be able to walk to the local chemist or shops and make individual choices about where they would like to go.

“We always did our best to make the Cheeverstown campus welcoming and facilitate family visits, but it was not the same as being in someone’s home.

“Here, they have a key to their own home.”

Cheeverstown’s main base of operations is at Cheeverstown House in Kilvare and hubs are also located in Tallaght village and on Whitehall Road.

The homes delivered are supported by Cheeverstown’s wraparound care model.

Two households in particular are provided with 24-hour access to support staff.

This is intended to promote long- term stability and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities within the community, and each of the bungalows have been designed with accessibility and long-term sustainability in mind.

The inclusion of Air to Water heat pumps ensures better value for money, which is so important within the current context of spikes in energy costs, as well as being environmentally responsible by reducing carbon emissions.

Though the tenancy is unique, Co-operative Housing Ireland’s Member Tenant policies are applied in the same way as all other Member Tenants, ensuring they are afforded the same rights and responsibilities.

Cheeverstown Healthcare Assistant Sharon Mahon said that those who have moved into Hillfort have seen their quality of life “completely changed.”

Mahon stated: “As a staff member, I’d know these people longer than my own kids. Their quality of life has just completely changed.

“I keep saying that it’s the difference between day and night, it’s just a new lease of life. They’re not excluded, they’re a part of the community. The coffee shop knows them and there is a real sense of belonging here – it’s a really happy environment.”

Rory McCormack is one of Hillfort’s residents after he moved into his new home last year.

Although he has lived in other places throughout his life, the only place Rory had ever called home was his family home.

However, that has changed since he moved into one of the new accessible bungalows.

Rory said: “This is my home.”