Since coming on board, Kirsten has been striving to reach her goals with assistance from her regular support workers.

Kirsten, who lives with bipolar disorder, receives support each week from MercyCare. She lives in long term independent community housing in Perth’s east with her beloved ragdoll cat Oscar.

MercyCare support workers partnered with Kirsten so she could gain skills and confidence in budgeting; make healthy choices when shopping, eating and exercising; travel to and maintain appointments; and make connections within her local community.

By working on her skills and gaining confidence Kirsten hopes to put it all together to live safely and independently in a home of her choice and gain paid employment. 

Her dream job is to work at an animal shelter.

“The staff have been so nice and my support worker Keegan is great. The coordinators are nice and flexible. When I ring up to change times or my days it’s never a problem,” Kirsten said.

“I am getting more confident and able to get out there in the community now.”

From little things big things grow

Reaching 100 participants was a significant milestone for our Disability Services. Marking a century, and subsequent growth to 121 participants by the end of the 2020 financial year, affirmed our reputation for delivering quality supports.

Our participants can rely on punctuality, reliability and consistently high-quality support.

The service has been built organically from the ground up, founded on a clear vision – to enable and empower young people and adults to establish and achieve their individual goals; participate in lifelong learning to build competence, capacity and resilience; and be in and of their community.

The values-led team has been steadfast in its unwavering commitment to making a real difference. It harnesses the significant diversity of its staff to create an integrated and seamless experience and service response for participants who treat the service not as a service, but a life partner supporting human needs.

Those ethics have translated to significant growth, enabling our service to support more people living with a disability.