Rehab Group On Mission To U.S. To Raise Investment For Its Projects In Ireland

Dr Angela Kerins, chief executive of the Rehab Group, a leading international non-Governmental organization based in Ireland, last Wednesday met with key members of the Irish American community to urge their support for Rehab's services in communities across Ireland.

The event took place in the Irish Consul General's Residence in New York City and was hosted by Noel Kilkenny, Consul General of Ireland and Mrs Hanora O'Dea Kilkenny.

A further separate event took place on Thursday when Dr Kerins attended a reception hosted by the Irish Network - New York City (IN-NYC).

The organization, which has blazed a trail of success in supporting people with disabilities and others who are marginalized, has been lauded on numerous occasions internationally for the quality and innovation of its services, further evidenced by its representation at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York.

Headquartered in Ireland, the Rehab Group is one of Europe's largest and most dynamic not-for-profit organizations with a turnover of $250m, staff of 3,500 and operations in 250 locations across Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland.

In addition to providing training, health and social care services, it also operates commercial activities such as logistics, packaging, recycling, asset recovery and retailing.

Its services range from vocational training to assist people into work, to support services in enabling people to live as independently as possible in their communities, to commercial businesses providing viable employment opportunities to people with disabilities.

Dr Kerins welcomed the opportunity of meeting with Rehab's US friends to tell them about Rehab and to encourage them to invest in the not-for-profit sector.

At the event, she told people about Rehab's plans which will not only hope to create 400 new jobs in Ireland but which they also hope will increase the number of people that Rehab supports internationally to 75,000 over the next three years.

Dr Kerins said, "Many people with connections to Ireland may be familiar with the Rehab Group as a provider of training and care services to people with disabilities in Ireland.

"What they may not know is that we operate in four European countries and also run a number of successful commercial businesses.

"We are Ireland's largest processor of glass for recycling, operate resource recovery services in the UK and in the Netherlands - where we work with Microsoft - and have an international logistics business in Poland where we work with Dell in the areas of keyboard printing and electronic assembly.

"We have also supported the creation of more than 1,000 jobs for people with disabilities in India, Nepal, Panama, Taiwan and Mauritius.

"Our services are recognized internationally with many awards for their quality and innovation, while our involvement in other jurisdictions also allows us to further our mission, share our experience with other service providers and learn from their best practice too."

Turning to Rehab's operations in Ireland, she said, "there is real evidence of progress on the road to economic recovery.

"Key to this has been the crucial role played by all stakeholders in working together to return stability to the country's finances, while also endeavouring to limit the impacts on the most vulnerable in our society.

"Overall, we have a positive view of our future development and believe that this can be achieved with hard word, a 'can-do' attitude and a little adventure into new areas.

"We have ambitious plans to increase by almost 40 per cent the number of people that we support, from 54,000 currently to 75,000 in 2015.

"At Rehab, we have a double bottom line - it is important that our activities are socially-driven and work to enable people fulfil their potential, but they must also be commercially underpinned and sustainable."

During her visit Dr Kerins also took the opportunity to let everyone know of Gathering Ireland 2013, the Irish government program to encourage people with Irish connections, and indeed those wishing to create new connections, to come and visit Ireland.

"There has never been a better time to come to Ireland and reconnect people and families.

"Rehab has services all across the country and we would be only too delighted to welcome and assist people and organisations to come to Ireland and participate in this great Irish adventure.

"You can be assured that you will return to the United States having made lots of great friends, and bringing back many treasured experiences and fond memories."