Posted 10:49AM on Wednesday 08 January 2014
Noel Curran from Newry leads a full life with just a few hours of peripatetic support from Positive Futures.
“All my family are away from home and I was left to look after my mother. My sister Bernie, who lives a fair bit away, comes often but I was on my own really. It was too much for me and Mummy was taken into a home. My brothers wanted to sell the house and that was fine because it had too many memories for me.
“About then, my social worker introduced me to Positive Futures. They stepped in to help me move.”
Teresa is one of the support worker team and she has known Noel since those early days. They have a close bond, borne out of working together and being there when times were tough. His stay in his new bungalow was to be short–lived.
“I was there about 3 weeks and eggs were thrown at my windows. One Saturday night I came home and the front and back door were smashed in. I called the police.”
Teresa helped Noel understand that it was not him who was being targeted. The vandals were searching for the man who had lived there before him.
“It was a terrible time for Noel. He knew he couldn’t stay there. We stepped in and helped him find a new place.”
Noel says, “This is the area my Mummy is from. I know people here and I have my local. I have good neighbours too. Teresa comes and we do housework and clean out the fridge and change the beds every fortnight, things like that. Only for Positive Futures…I don’t know what I’d do. They help me.”
