Lisa grew up in the Victorian bayside suburb of Frankston with her three children. Following an incident in 2012, Lisa acquired a severe brain injury. This resulted in her having quadriplegia and bulbar dysfunction and now requires a high level of assistance for all activities of daily living.  

After 7 long years of finding myself trapped in a nursing home, I had one goal in life…and that was to get out of Aged Care. When I moved in, I didn’t know what was happening to me and no one bothered to tell me…I wanted to leave and every day I felt like killing myself. I wanted to be treated like a human being. I wanted an ordinary life. Determined and motivated, I accomplished what many others in my situation desire to have for themselves.

I chose my Summer Housing apartment because of its’ close proximity to where I lived prior to my brain injury, so it felt like home. I was over the moon about moving into my apartment. After years of enduring life in Aged Care which I would describe as ‘living in hell’, I finally experienced a sense of freedom when I moved in. What I love most about where I live is the community and how nice and friendly the people are in this area. It’s one of life’s pleasures to be able to meet new people, connect and make friends. Now I have that opportunity and I can look forward to inviting them over to my place and regain my social life. In the nursing home, I didn’t have any friends, but what’s worse is there was no opportunity to make any friends. In Aged Care, I didn’t know what was happening to me and no one bothered to tell me. Living in my apartment, I now have the control to make my own plans when I want to, and where I want to.

I worry about other people in the same situation. So many people feel the way I do. I don’t just want to improve my own situation – I want to help other people. I’m a person with the same rights as everyone else to live the life I want. Those rights have been taken away from me and I want them back. I want to share with others going through what I went through, that there is an option to live independently and gain back your freedom. I want to tell them they can do it!

As previously mentioned, my one goal originally was to get out of Aged Care. Now I have achieved that goal, I’m not just able to set new goals in my life, but I can set the same goals just like everyone else…like making new friends, going out dancing, listening to Rock and Roll…oh and best of all, getting out there to barrack for my No. 1 footy team – the Carlton Blues!

Lisa, Aged 45, VIC tenant

• How long have you been with Summer Housing? 

I joined the Summer Housing team in April this year (2021).

• What is your role? 

As Tenancy Support Manager for SA, my role primarily involves supporting our tenants with the transition into their new home and ensuring the success of their tenancy with Summer Housing into the future. I therefore keep in touch with tenants regularly during the transition phase to provide updates and work with the tenant and their team to arrange for any required customisations to be completed either before they move into their new home, or as soon as possible afterwards. Once tenants have moved in, I am their main point of contact for any issues that may arise and will continue to check in with tenants to get their feedback and assist them as required.

• What do you love most about your job?

I absolutely love seeing when tenants have the opportunity to move into Summer Housing’s beautiful apartments. Witnessing their excitement at the time of the move and the life changing benefits that come about from living in housing that meets their needs, is so uplifting and satisfying to see!

This job enables me to play an important part in this sometimes long and challenging but very worthwhile journey for our tenants and for that I feel very privileged.

• What does a typical day look like? 

I’ll usually start the day with my decaf coffee followed by responding to emails and phone calls from tenants and other stakeholders.

Often I’ll also do a site visit to help coordinate a quote for a customisation or show a prospective tenant through Penny Place, which is the first of Summer Housing’s projects to be completed here in Adelaide.

I have regular catch ups with our colleagues at the Summer Foundation, who do our tenancy matching work for us, to find out about any new applicants or engagement activities we plan to collaborate on together. Most days I’ll usually also make calls to tenants and prospective tenants to check in with how things are going from their perspective, as well as to Occupational Therapists and/or Support Coordinators working with our tenants, who are either in the process of assisting our tenants to secure the appropriate level of funding from the NDIS to live in Specialist Disability Accommodation or are  requesting customisations of our apartments. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the phone to plumbers, electricians and other tradespeople recently as well, however now that we have a new Property and Tenancy Manager appointed, she will be taking care of arranging quotes for customisations and repairs and maintenance, so this should reduce a bit.

As a team we also have regular sessions with our colleagues at Summer Housing, to provide each other with sector updates, upskilling and training and very importantly the moral support that we have all needed, especially through these recently challenging times.

• What is one story/moment in your job that really made you proud? 

One of our tenants who moved into an apartment at Penny Place recently has a progressive neuromuscular disease and had been hospitalised for the previous 12 months with nowhere suitable to discharge. I had been told when I met her before she moved into Penny Place that she was institutionalised, did not have the opportunity to access the community or spend time with her partner or children and was non-verbal.

When I ran into her in the lobby at Penny Place a few weeks after she moved in, you can imagine my surprise when she made eye contact with me and responded to my greeting with a big clear emphatic “Hello”. I’m told she has also started saying quite a few other things since moving into Penny Place and she looks so much more engaged and happy compared to when I first met her before she moved in. The day I met her in the lobby, she had also just come back from a walk through the botanic gardens on a beautiful spring day and prior to having a disability, this is something she had always enjoyed.

I’ve since been up to this tenant’s apartment and she has really settled in well with a large TV for watching music videos and movies, which is something else I’m told she really likes to do, surrounded by family and she was smiling and actively interacting with them. The change that living in our apartment has made to this tenant really highlights to me why we are here at Summer Housing doing what we are doing and makes me feel immensely proud.

My name is Hannah Pennington, a Tenancy Support Officer in VIC for Summer Housing who is also a woman living with disability. I thought that I would share a few websites which I have found personally helpful when it comes to homewares, clothing, assistive tech and even food! Because, let’s be honest – during lockdowns and various COVID restrictions who doesn’t love a good online shop? (Hint: me!)

I’ve included for each of these online stores where you may be able to use NDIS funding. My advice would be: if you’ve found an item or items which you believe align with the Reasonable & Necessary criteria but your funding is Agency Managed – go ahead and ask your Support Coordinator or LAC to request the NDIA to adjust some or all of your Core funding to Plan or Self-Managed so that you are able to access a wider range of adaptive and functional products to support you. Functional, adaptive & beautiful products should be made available for everyone.

Now – happy shopping!

Averee.com.au

Averee is my personal favourite – a website which stocks clothing, homewares, personal care items, lifestyle & living products, sports & outdoor products and even modified food. Averee advertises that “function is important, but so is design” and they couldn’t be more on the money. Their products are targeted to people living with various disabilities but don’t give off an obvious “hospital” or “care facility” vibe (hello rose gold handrails!).

If you’re considering low level assistive tech for your home, look no further. Averee is not an NDIS registered provider so, only self and plan-managed funding can be used for their products at this stage (and to consider the Reasonable & Necessary criteria prior to purchase using NDIS funding).

DoAbility.com.au

DoAbility offer assistive tech and functional products for your entire home – anything related to your bedroom, bathroom, seating, mobility & kid’s products. DoAbility have been providing functional and healthcare equipment for almost 20 years and do it well.

They offer sales, trial & rentals of their products so that you can ensure you are finding the right product for you. Located in VIC but with showrooms in VIC & NSW, you can attend trials & demos of the products that you’re interested in. Unlike Averee, DoAbility is an NDIS registered provider which means that participants with agency-managed funding are also able to access their products.

EveryHuman.com.au

Every Human specialise in adaptive and accessible fashion, footwear & lifestyle products for people living with disability.

They have a wide range of products for Men, Women and kids with specific options for clothing: Easy Closures, Ease of Dressing, Seated Wear & Adaptive Footwear. Their lifestyle products are also available to browse in specific criteria such as: Dexterity, Sensory & Mobility which makes searching for product relevant to you really simple. Special shoutout to their Books range which features authors living with disability and kids’ books with targeted messages such as Disability, Optimism & Body Image.

EveryHuman is not an NDIS registered provider (yet, as stated on their website) so you’ll only be able to make purchased with your self or plan-managed funding at this stage.

How long have you been with Summer Housing?

I was appointed to my position in July 2020.

What is your role?

I am the Tenancy Support Manager for both WA & SA