SLIGO Centre for Independent Living will celebrate 20 years in existence this year.
The Centre was founded by local man Sean Brennan in 1996 and looks to liaise with people who have disabilities to aid them in living an independent life.
It is non-profit and aims to provide inclusion, equality and empowerment for people with disabilities.
Melanie Pleskar-Sheerin, the general manager of the centre, has been with the service since 2004.
She explained its role to the Sligo Weekender.
“The centre is here since 1996 and was founded by people with disabilities themselves. They felt that there was not really a social model in place for people with disabilities who could by and large do most things themselves but would need aspects of support,” she said.
It began in 1996 as a FAS CE scheme and there were 10 people that the centre provided support to. From there the service continued to grow until 2000 when it became a company and in 2002 the Health Board showed interest. Now the centre is in part funded by the HSE.
When Melanie first came on board the centre helped 12 people, now the Sligo Centre for Independent Living has about 100,000 hours of support for individuals each year.
This is spread across 100 people involved in providing the service across both Sligo town and county.
For more on the Independent Living Centre in Sligo, pick up a copy of this week’s Sligo Weekender- in shops now.
