Tessa, Lisa, Desley, and Judy love spending time together, but like all of us, they are getting older and need a place to live that will meet their accessibility needs now and into the future.
Last week, we celebrated the completion of “the best house on the street”, as part of our My Home, My Life (MHML) initiative with a ‘Welcome Home’ event for the close friends.
Tessa’s brother Garry Bates said the women’s excitement was palpable.
You can see how excited they are. For goodness’ sake they’re beside themselves, and everybody else is happy for them too
Garry Bates is a long-term advocate and volunteer, having recently finished serving on the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay Area Committee and on National Council, advising us on the needs of people with disability and their families for more than a decade.
He said the new home will bring a lot of benefits to his sister.
It’s a welcome benefit for Tessa because she’s losing her mobility and these homes are being designed to enable people to access all the areas of the home
Garry said
Tessa will be in a bigger and brighter room and thanks to the extra space, she’ll be able to access her personal cabinet with all the things she likes, such as listening to music, reading, and watching DVDs
She’ll have access to more of her personal things without needing the help of a support worker.
This new home with a larger common room will mean they can bring support services into the house, which is important for people who struggle to access support services in the community.
The close friends have previously lived together in another supported living arrangement.
They’re always having a party, they just love each other
It just makes my partner and I feel so good every time we visit them.
David Swain, CEO said the home was carefully designed to cater to diverse needs.
If you can go into the bathroom by yourself, shower yourself, open a door yourself, go into the kitchen and prepare your own meals because you’ve got adjustable height benches, all of those little things make a big difference,
[We] believe everyone should have a choice of who they live with, so we’re thrilled to see Tessa and her three friends choosing to move together and keep their friendship going
David Swain
The event ended with the housemates planting a tree together as a symbol of growth and life in their new home – the start of a wonderful new chapter.
A massive thank you to our Property team who have put in an incredible effort over the past two years to get our $45 million MHML initiative up and running.
Through MHML, we will build 70 new accessible homes and refurbish another 26 properties.
That means 252 people with a disability can move into a more contemporary home and another 126 people will be able to move into an accessible home so they can live independently – many for the first time.
Watch 7News Sunshine Coast’s coverage of the event on Facebook (1 min)
And click play below to hear from Garry Bates, David Swain, and Desley (8 min)
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