A home of your own

Creating a home and lifestyle is a long lasting and universal topic. If moving out of home is a milestone for most young adults, then we need to consider why this is so often challenging or out of the reach of people who live with disabilities.

With the right opportunities, planning and support, not only is it possible for people with disability to have a home of their own, but it can be a cornerstone of a life in community. There are some things that CRU believes to be universal about home:

  1. We feel safe: When we wake up in our own home day after day, with control over where, how and with whom we live; we have a sense we are in charge of our lives. When our home is secure, we can trust others and experience intimacy and reciprocity.
  2. We decide who comes in: Our home is the doorway to our community, and it enables us to ‘open the door’ to others who we want in our home. And we can also ‘shut the door’ when we want privacy, to rest and renew for another day, and to feel safe.
  3. We can truly be ourselves: In our home, we can express who we have been, who we are and who we hope to become. Home is where we do things that give us meaning and purpose on our own terms.  

Ensuring that support arrangements are suitable, sustainable and can grow and evolve with the person is critical and requires thoughtful work with the person and their supporters. Adequate safeguards and succession plans are also paramount as we provide for people who are vulnerable and may need to depend on others.

While the natural instinct may be to hold people close to protect them, having a stable home can open doors to community, growth and connection and safety can be found where the person is known, visible and valued.

Current Projects

My Home, My Way Project

In November 2019, CRU and the National Alliance of Capacity Building Organisations (NACBO) started work on a 3 year, ILC-funded project aimed at providing information to people and families to assist people with intellectual disabilities to live in their own home.

My Home, My Way will harness a wide range of resources about ‘home’ into a single website. This website will house existing resources, as well as new videos, podcasts and booklets that will be created during the project. A workshop on ‘Home’ will also be delivered by CRU in Queensland.

Making Individualised Living Options real

In April 2021, CRU and the National Alliance of Capacity Building Organisations (NACBO) will start work on a 2 year, ILC-funded project aimed at exploring Individual Living Options (ILO) as a strategy to create a home of one’s own. ILO planning and funding through the NDIA is currently complex, not widely understood and requires significant time and effort at the design and development phase. This project aims to build capacity and confidence of participants and assist them to navigate the ILO planning, design and implementation process.

This work will augment the overarching My Home, My Way project, by providing a step-by-step technical guide for people and families wishing to actively pursue an ILO.  It will also give access to mentor/coaching support to navigate the technical steps involved in making an independent living option a reality.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the ‘My Home, My Way Project’ or the ‘Individual Living Options Project’, please email cru@cru.org.au or call us on 07 3844 2211. 

Fee for Service 

Alongside the funded project work we are doing on this topic, CRU also offers training and consultation packages on a fee for service basis. Our skilled disability consultants work alongside you to assist you and your supporters to become clear, confident and in control as you strive for the good things in life.

For more information visit the Fee For Service section of our website.