Disability and Home Support Services Wexford was established in 2019 in response to a recognition for the increased need for community, home Supports and bespoke services to cater for the needs of children and adults with physical and or Intellectual throughout Co Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, South Tipperary and Carlow. At Disability and Home Support Services Wexford we believe each service user is at the forefront of what we do. Our aim is to work in partnership with service users and their families to achieve positive meaningful change and to assist them to reach their full potential, whatever that may be.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to support and empower individuals to be as independent as possible by promoting disability, inclusive diversity and to live meaningful and fulfilling lives by providing quality lead services in line with regulations and bespoke person centred services.
Our Ethos
The Disability and Home Support Services ethos is guided by individualism and providing user-led services. This enables service users to flourish and instils a positive sense of self-concept and confidence to assist them towards reaching their aspirations and goals therefore leading to enhanced positive and fulfilling lives. Disability and Home Support Services believe that all human beings are entitled to be treated equally, with respect and dignity and afforded the same rights as the general population. We are committed to working with people with an intellectual disability to claim their rightful place as valued members of society. Inclusion is a central principle that underlies all aspects of the work we do.
Theoretical Perspective
Disability and Home Support Services is grounded in a person-centred approach to care, adopting the philosophy of Carl Rogers (1951). This theoretical perspective positions the individual at the centre of the care experience.
The key principles guiding our person-centred practice are:
Individuality
Disability and Home Support Services recognise the uniqueness of each child/adolescent/adult. Our staff are highly trained in devising and implementing individualistic therapeutic interventions to incorporate positive meaningful change in service users lives and that of their family/loved ones. By working in partnership with service users and their families an assessment of needs, individualised care plan, positive behavioural supports plan and risk assessment plans are devised and implemented by staff with the necessary skillset to do so.
Advocacy
Disability and Home Support Services advocates either on behalf of or in combination with individuals with physical and or intellectual disabilities to instil a rights-based approach to dispel prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination to incur an equality-based perspective to enable individuals to become active agents in their life’s.
Empowerment
We tailor individualised therapeutic interventions to build service user’s self-concept and worth to enable individuals to become self-determined to achieve desired outcomes and goals in so far as possible.
Social Inclusion
We aim to foster social connectivity through building awareness of the social consequences of living with a disability through advocacy and empowering service users to become actively involved in their community.
Citizenship
Citizenship enable individuals to recognise they can become active agents in society and within their communities.
Multi-disciplinary Involvement
Multi-disciplinary collaboration is also adopted within this individualised approach to ensure the bio-psycho-social-model of care is fostered allowing for a person-centred approach ensuring all needs are adequately catered for.
My name is Anne O Brien and I am the Managing Director of Disability and Home Support Services Wexford Ltd. I’m married to Mikey, have 3 adult children, 2 of whom work in the business and my youngest son is still in college.
I have worked in the caring industry most of my adult life and started my journey with the Sisters of Charity in Bath, England in 1986, since then I have supported people with acquired brain injuries, worked in Wexford General Hospital and managed a home care company for the past 14 years. During this time, I have gained enough experience to know that there are 3 key elements required to become a trusted and respected provider of support to people with disabilities – commitment, honour and reliability.
My long-term goal has always been to own my own business where I can pick all the best elements of my past and roll it into one, with Disability & Home Support, I think I have done just that.
My name is Alice O’Brien, I am the Social Care Manager with Disability and Home Support Service Wexford. I hold a qualification in Applied Social Studies in Professional Social Care and a diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I have experience in a range of settings within the sector, more recently as a Community Care Supervisor. I began my career with the company in 2019 where I worked on a part time basis up until May 2021.
To be given the opportunity to watch a company grow and develop at the rate this company has, has been a pleasure. The company’s leadership has successfully internalised the goals and objectives and as an employee I feel recognised and appreciated. As a manager, one of the things that never ceases to amaze me in this line of work is the dedication, loyalty and attitude of our Support Workers who I am so grateful to work alongside each day. I look forward to expanding my knowledge and growing with a well needed service in Co. Wexford and surrounding areas.
My name is Sue, In October 2019 I decided to upskill with the intention of going back to work full time, I did an accounting technician course and went back to full time employment in June 2020. I have worked with Disability & Home Support Services since September 2021 in the accounts and payroll department. I love working with this company as it is a fast paced, busy environment with many changes that need to be kept up with on a daily basis. The opportunity for staff training is very important to me and i have received great support from management with this.
My name is Shannon Lynch and I am the Human Resource Administrator at Disability and Home Support Services. I have just recently graduated college where I studied a Bachelor of Business Degree specialising in Human Resource Management. I have always been interested in working in human resources as it is a social science that is always growing and changing. Through my past work experiences, I have found HR to be an extremely rewarding job as it focuses on developing meaningful relationships with people and ensuring that their wellbeing is prioritised. Originally I joined the team on a part time basis to learn and develop my HR skills and I feel privileged to become part of this great team who deliver such an amazing and much needed service.
My name is Charlene Somers and I am a Social Care Manager with Disability and Home Support Services. I have a strong educational background to date within the field of social care, obtaining both a Level 8, Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Professional Social Care and a level 9, Masters by Research in the Area of Social Care. My research gained recognition within the Institute of Technology Carlow, coming 2nd place in the semi-finals of the overall in the SocialCore research
projects in 2019. I have also taught various modules on the Applied Social Care and Early Childhood Education and Care programmes within third level education.
I possess frontline experience across many facets of the social care sector – manager within the homecare sector, eldercare residential care/residential care for youths with intellectual disabilities, special education sector and day services for marginalised groups.
I feel my academic and practical experience to date enables me to assist in positive meaningful change in the lives of others. Corresponding with Disability & Home Support’s philosophy, my overall aim centres on assisting individuals to reach their full potential to live happy, fulfilling lives. I believe that the key to achieving this is through a collaborative approach. I feel renowned poet, Ryunosuke Satoro incapsulates this partnership approach beautifully with the following,
‘Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean’.
Teamwork, partnership and ensuring the service user is the guiding force of service delivery is and should always be the foundation of Social Care practice. Disability and Home Support Service Wexford strive to do just that.
My name is Janice Frost and I am the Scheduling Manager with Disability & Home Support Services. I believe in the power and importance of working to provide supports to those within the Disability Sectors. I began my journey by achieving an Honors Degree in Social Studies before landing a support workers role with the newly formed Disability and Home Support Services Wexford after a long career in the hospitality industry before becoming part of our management team.
“Whilst looking for a career change I came across a job opportunity with Disability and Home Support Services Wexford, the ethos and message portrayed by the company was something that resonated with me and once I had met the management team I knew I had found my new career. It has been amazing watching the company grow from strength to strength, knowing I am part of the team. It is hard to describe the feeling you get knowing that the work we do is life changing for our service users. I look forward to many more years working with our ever-expanding team.”
My name is Emma O’Neill, I am the Day Service Manager with Disability and Home Support Service Wexford. I qualified in 2015 in Applied Social Studies in Social Care. Since 2015 I have worked in the Disability Sector throughout residential and day services. I started out as a social care worker and progressed to Deputy Team Leader and then moved up to a Social Care Manager role over the last few years. I joined the Disability and Home Support Service team in 2023.
I aim to use my experience and knowledge from past service in my role as Day Service Manager and strive to create a day service environment in line with New Directions and support our service user to engage with the wider community.