In 1989, after travelling the world and having a career in nursing, Lorna O’Shea started her own business; she brought and renovated her first residential care home whilst living there with a small number of service users. She did everything from property maintenance to support involving the service users and in fact 3 of them still live within our services today. Lorna’s ultimate goal was to provide her tenants with a level of independence they had not previously experienced and ultimately empower them to become their own bosses. Lorna’s favourite part of her work has been the memories she has created with the service users. In 1993, Lorna got married and The O’Shea Partnership was founded shortly after as a family owned and run business, with her husband, Sean. There have been many challenges over the years but Lorna has never lost sight of the importance of involving the service users in the running and development of the business which prides itself on its’ ability to help people make a difference to their lives. In 2014, Lorna took the decision to split the business into two companies; Accommodation-YES who provide a range of accommodation schemes in and around Maidstone and Care-YES who provide the support. In July 2015 Company name has changed from Care-YES Ltd to Phoenix Support Ltd. Lorna now runs Accommodation-YES and recruited a General Manager to run Phoenix Support Ltd but remains the sole Director of both companies. The two companies continue to work closely together in a person-centred way, to ensure that high standards are maintained throughout.
