Moving from institutional care to community-based support

Tanya is a young woman who lived in an institutional setting with 40 or more people. She didn’t have access to a key. She had to write her name on her own clothes so that people wouldn’t take them. She couldn’t use the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

A grant from Genio secured on-going support for Tanya to move to her own apartment in the community. 

“I wanted to be like other people, living on my own, in my own apartment. Going out to work like other people, locking their door after them. When I first moved into my own apartment the landlord handed me my key, and it was a great feeling. I love it, it’s really changed my life.”
Tanya Byrne, 2011.

As a result of Tanya’s successful move to the community,  the Genio Trust is now supporting a further 10 people to move from the institution where she used to live with plans in place for the eventual closure of the institution.