Community Living
Cootharinga currently provides support to people with disabilities across Townsville, Cairns and Mackay in a range of individually tailored living options. Our supported living arrangements exist to meet the individual needs of diverse individuals to establish a normal rhythm of life.
We assist all people to build independent living skills based on their lifestyle goals and plans. We assist each person to make real decisions with minimum intrusion and to become confident and contributing members of their community by maximising their physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social development.
In essence, the services we provide aim to assist each person to:
- Develop independent living skills
- Be physically and emotionally secure
- Establish a normal rhythm of life and to direct their own lives with minimum intrusion
- Develop and maintain family and social relationships
- Become confident and contributing members of their community, and
- Maximise their physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social development.
Through our person centred approach we are able to work with each individual, and their own support network to assist them to live the life they desire. Each person in assisted to plan for their future and design the type of lifestyle they wish to live. Key Workers are then selected to work closely with each person to enable ongoing progress towards goal attainment. Our supports are then tailored to those goals to enable each person to build a valued life in the community.
In order to maximise opportunities for people to live within their community, the houses are situated within a residential area accessible to public amenities and resources. The houses represent in appearance and design what is typical of other homes in the neighbourhood, with modifications designed to meet each person’s needs for access.
Australian Cerebral Palsy Research Study
Individual Support Service
Individual Support and In-Home Support services aim to maximise and maintains a person’s independence by providing support for personal and domestic needs and to meet their chosen goals. This type of support enables people to remain living independently in the community with minimal supports. We have assisted many people for years to ensure they maintain daily living skills to manage their own home and access the community.
Family Support Service
Family Support provides flexible respite to families that have a member with a disability. Our services provide flexible respite options for families and people with a disability to enable sustainable living options for people with disability in their family home. Our support workers assist individuals to access the community, providing respite for the family and also an opportunity for the individual to build social networks within their community and access a range of programs.
Community Access Service
The primary objective of our Community Access Service is to encourage people to identify and develop their gifts, talents and abilities by providing supports necessary for each person to become confident and contributing members of their community.
The Community Access Service operates in Townsville, Mackay and Cairns. CAS provides highly skilled, professional, person focused staff. The routines and activities of CAS are driven by the wishes and needs of the individual.
The Community Access Program makes a major contribution to the implementation of the people we supports Individual Lifestyle Plans. The service provides staff who work according to the needs and wishes of the people we supports personal goals. Staff assist the people we support to seek opportunities to participate and contribute to their communities in a way that is meaningful and satisfying.
Some examples of activities which the people we support choose to participate include:
- Development of personal interests e.g. cooking, art, music, dance
- Literacy tutoring
- Social events
- Cultural events
- TAFE Classes
- Clubs and associations
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Liaison Officer
Cootharinga Society developed an innovative and unique role being that of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Liaison Officer (ATSLO). The position commenced in 1995.
The objective of the ATSLO’s role is to communicate and address the broader community issues of people we support from an indigenous background and ascertain their needs and aspirations for the future. To do this effectively, contact needed to be established and relationships developed and maintained with individuals and their families.
The ATSLO holds informal cross cultural training sessions with staff so that their understanding of cultural issues is well developed and they have the foresight to see that traditional western methods of dealing with problems may not always work with culturally diverse people we support.