The staff are like family to me; they are helpful, friendly and kind

The staff are like family to me; they are helpful, friendly and kind

1 November 2017

THIS month, we’ve met up with Donna Gibney, a 36 year-old woman who lives in Rathdree Supported Housing Project.  She’s lived with Mainstay DRP, previously Down Residential Project, for 14 years.  

When asked about a typical day in the service, she starts by reminding us it depends on whether it’s a week day or a weekend.  There’s a difference of at least two hours sleep. Settling on a Tuesday, she begins:

“I used to live in Struell Lodge.  There are six of us in my house; we have our own rooms and bathrooms.  Each room has its own TV and we decorate it whatever way we want – it’s our house.  The staff are like family to me; they are helpful, friendly and kind. There’s a staff member always in the house; they have their own room too. I like living with other people, and we’re next door to a group of five people who live in Mainstay.  We’re at the back of the ‘Big House’ which is where other Mainstay clients live, but they need more help than I do.

“We get up about 7am. I do what I need to do, then I get breakfast. I make my own breakfast. It’s usually toast and butter and coffee. Then I make my lunch.  I love brown bread sandwiches with tomato sauce. Sometimes I put ham in them.

“About 9.15am, there’s a bus comes to take us to Cumulus One; Day Care. Here we can do a lot of things. We have a room for each group. There are five groups.  Each room does different things. Each room has two staff members in it.  Lunch is at 12pm each day and we take about half an hour. We sit in different groups and we can banter away with the staff.

“On a Tuesday we can do yoga, pottery and line dancing.  We can do art and jigsaws everyday. Thursday is my favourite day; we have therapies on our hands.  On other days we go out for lunch, have choir, do gardening and attend boccia. 

“I hate Mondays; we’ve to bring in our money for tea and coffee, for our lunch outing, for our activities for the week. It can take a while to get 60 people sorted but we get sorted in our rooms. Then I get a cup of tea or coffee. 

“About 3.30pm, the bus brings me back to Rathdree. I can go shopping sometimes, or talk to staff.  Sometimes I get stressed or lonely and they listen to me.  Then I make my dinner. Sometimes the staff help me.  I have to do my own washing and ironing and have to help clean the shared home I live in so these chores are done after dinner. I like making a list of the stuff we need to buy in the food shop.  We do this once per week. My family are welcome to visit me, and they do.

“I’d get a cup of tea before bed and watch a bit more TV or listen to music.  Of course, I love being here. This is my home.”