Ang says:
Just Like Home was born because for some time I noticed that while my oldest and youngest children are routinely invited to sleepovers at their friends’ homes, my middle child Ashton, who is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair for mobility, never had this experience.
I thought perhaps there were other kids who also didn’t get to experience the joy and excitement that comes with hanging out in a different home. I decided that since we had the space and experience I’d give others the opportunity to have sleepovers with us.
I set about renovating our granny flat into a custom, accessible space and soon realised that people of all ages and with any kind of disability could come and stay. I’m passionate about providing a real-life family experience.
When you or your person comes to stay with us, you’ll be living with a real family as we go about our daily lives. We go shopping together, cook together, and sometimes we have after-dinner kitchen-karaoke and dance-offs! We’re a pretty average family, doing average (sometimes kooky) family things, and that’s just what you or your loved one will experience. I’ve worked in the disability sector for more than 16 years, in addition to raising two children with disabilities, so I understand the experience as a parent, and as a professional.
Our story keeps developing…
Not long after starting Just Like Home, we had several young people approach us to take them travelling. This is when Just Like Travel was born. Through travel we identified opportunities to meet new people and grow through socialising, experiencing new things like food and traveling on trams, and the space to develop important soft skills that help get ready for the transition from high school to study or to moving into the workforce.
We have people of all ages travel with us, some travel to achieve specific goals, but everyone enjoys the relaxation and the change of pace from the everyday. It is commonplace, once we return home, to hear our travellers ask “where are we going next time and when?” Just Like Travel provides diverse tailor-made experiences.
We are excited to see who we get to meet at Just Like Home and what adventures we will go on at Just Like Travel in the future. We hope you can be part of the fun.
It’s important to know our Support Workers have a Working With Children Check (WWCC), first aid certificate and National Police Check. They have also completed the Supporting People to Stay COVID free Course (via DSC). I have a first aid certificate, and I also hold a mental health first aid certificate.
We’re evolving with you…
As our journey continues and we met more people, we are finding gaps in the services that could be used to build capacity and achieve NDIS goals and ultimately live a best life. So we decided we needed to do something about it! Over the last two years we have rolled out three new programs: Just Work, Just Events and Just Love. Now we help hundreds of people from all walks of their lives. From navigating their first time on a plane to the first day at work and making new friends.
We also expanded our Support Coordination team to include Recovery Coaching, so we are even more responsive to people’s individual needs.
We are excited about the new pathways this journey is taking, and even more excited that you can take it with us! No matter what we do, we always remember why we started in the first place, to help people with disability live enriched, fulfilling, delightfully messy and kooky lives.
