Illawarra and Shoalhaven

When a Short Term Stay becomes a Lifelong Home….

The Disability Trust has recently had success in transitioning five participants from short term accommodation into a full time home in the Illawarra.

The first gentlemen to transition into the home was Mark who was living with his father when he required emergency short term accommodation when his father was hospitalised for an extended period. Mark liked living in the home and desperately wanted to stay.

Mark was joined in the home by Marcel who also required short term accommodation due to family illness and also wanted to stay in the home on a more permanent basis. Mark and Marcel quickly became great friends.

These two were then joined by Max who had been living with his sister but wanted a home in a location which would enable him to continue to be a part of his community.

With Max, Mark and Marcel now fast friends and all seeking permanent accommodation, we set about making that happen for them. We worked closely with ADHC and families to turn Hargraves residence into a permanent Supported Independent Living house.

These three were then joined by Mitchell who was living in a group home in South West Sydney, although his parents lived in the Illawarra. Mitchell was of similar age to Max, Mark and Marcel and they shared common interests. He loves his new house and the opportunity to spend more quality time with his family now that he is closer to them.

Michael was the last person to join the home. Although he was living in the community, his support needs increased significantly and drop-in support was not meeting his needs. He was lonely and he wanted to live in a group home setting. Since joining the house, Michael is accessing the community to attend groups, going out with the other residents to local community events and has started work.

The 5 M’s – Mark, Marcel, Max, Mitchell and Michael – have discovered a lot of shared interests and love going out to events in the community. They are planning their upcoming activities together, including seeing live music and going out to different clubs for dinner and entertainment. They enjoy living together and value the new friendships of their housemates.

A Great Place to Belong – My Home, My Community

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Headway Drama Program Assists People with Acquired Brain Injury

Headway drama program has been running for 10 years, helping participants by improving confidence, speech and memory. The group of participants write the play with the assistance of Eaton Gorge Theatre Company and all get to perform in the play throughout the year. This year the drama group performed at the Illawarra Flame Festival and Gwynneville theatre.

Sam Smalley has been a part of the Headway drama group for eight years and says: “There is no pressure, everyone just has a good time while performing. You hear the crowd laughing and cheering at the end of the shows and it makes you feel really good inside”.

Tony Scognamiglio says: “My confidence has improved greatly due to my involvement in the drama group.” Tony has also been a part of the Drama group for eight years. Tony also said he enjoys the friendly banter within the group.

Improved Mobility

Charlene first attended Foothills in her wheelchair because she relied heavily on the support of her mother to walk her around at home. As Charlene began to show more and more confidence with the staff at Foothills, a referral was submitted for Charlene to be assessed to use a Maywalker frame.

The joy on Charlene’s face now is priceless when she is walking around the centre using the Maywalker frame. She is just so excited and calls out to staff when she walks past. Its early stages, however the Maywalker frame will open opportunities for Charlene to walk to places previously she could not go and be more physically active.

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Day Options Expands in the Shoalhaven

Shoalhaven Day Options has seen changes and growth over the past 12 months with the expansion of our services in Nowra including a great new site. Some of the growth has been due to school leavers but the significant amount has been due to participants choosing The Disability Trust. We have been providing support to participants and families through the NDIS transition including pre planning, planning meetings, transition and review of plans if necessary. This additional support is proving beneficial as many NDIS plans have been allowing the participant to access additional supports.

Awards Night 2017

The Disability Trust, Sport and Recreation annual Awards Night at the Novotel Northbeach is always the must attend event of the year. This night enables participants to come together and celebrate their achievements over the past 12 months.

This year we had over 350 participants, parents, carers and sponsors attend the evening with awards being handed out for achievements at all programs.

This year we also recognised the support and commitment of Merrigong Theatre Company over the past 10 years with our drama programs by giving them the Hall of Fame Award.

After the awards families and staff danced the night away. It was great to see so many smiling faces and participants from a variety of programs come together and share their experiences from the past 12 months.

We are pleased to announce that in 2018 Friends of The Disability Trust have committed to become the major supporter of this event ensuring it will be able to continue into the future.