Brave mum speaks out to help save drug recovery centre

THIS Dublin mother who is overcoming drug addiction has bravely shared her story to help raise money for the facility that helped her recover and keep her baby.

Simone Flynn (34), who has been on drugs since she was just 10 years old, has bravely shared her story of rehabilitation to help keep the mother and child facility at Coolmine Therapeutic Centre in the recovery business.

The mother-of-three has courageously forgone her anonymity to emphasise just how much the centre is needed and send out a message of hope to others suffering from addiction.

Over a year ago, Simone stopped taking heroin when she discovered she was pregnant with her third child, Ella. Then, having been on Methadone for about five months, she was accepted as a full-time resident in Coolmine’s mother and child programme at Ashleigh House.

“I really wanted to get off drugs and the only way I could go to Ashleigh House was to bring Ella with me,

? she explained.

“So I leave her into the childcare facility in the morning and do my work for the day and collect her at the end of the day.

“If I did not have this I would not have managed to be away from her for all that time and I don’t think I could have stayed clean.

“It is a very intensive programme to help you get your life back. And for mothers of small children, leaving them for a 24 hours a day, seven days a week programme, where you live in, would be very difficult.

?

Simone’s addiction began at the tender age of 10 when she began drinking and smoking hash. By the age of 14, she was regularly taking ecstasy and acid. She left school at 15 and began working as a live-in nanny when she was first introduced to heroin by the father of the children she cared for.

Simone first attempted to get clean when she fell pregnant with her first child.

However, as her partner was also an addict, it wasn’t long before she was back on heroin. For the next 10 years, Simone struggled with her addiction and even continued to take heroin throughout her second pregnancy.

Her second son, who is now two years of age, was weaned off heroin when he was born. Both Simone’s children were taken from her care and she readily accepts that she was unable to care for them herself.

Coolmine Therapeutic Community offers the only mother and child facility in Ireland to help women overcome addiction.

The centre has been helping thousands of people with addiction problems for almost 40 years and is currently struggling to maintain the staffing levels required for its childcare facility.

It has funding for just one childcare professional. However, with a waiting list of 11 women and budget funding cuts biting deep, the team at Coolmine fear they will be unable to sustain the service.

The centre is obliged to have one childcare professional for every five children. However, it needs at least two more childcare professionals to cater for demand.

According to Pauline McKeown, Head of Services, more childcare is urgently needed.

“We just about have enough money for one professional and we need at least two more,

? she stated.

“If we got these we could help many other mothers like Simone immediately.

?

Simone is also appealing to people to donate to the centre so that mothers like herself can continue to get the help and treatment they so desperately need.

“I’d hate to see any woman going back on drugs after kicking the habit and trying to get back into society and rebuild her family just because there was no crèche available,” Simone said.

To donate visit www.coolmine.ie.