Homes, not housing, to solve disability accommodation crisis

(L-R) Goro Gupta from Empowered Livability, Nicole Doherty from Empowered Livability, Brandon Howard from GenU and Joseph Sulfaro from Empowered Livability.

Young adults with disabilities will no longer have to move into a nursing home or stay with their parents to get the care they need.

Empowered Liveability, a disability-specific property development company, has teamed with disability service providers GenU to build a number of specialist disability individual and share houses across Victoria, including six in Wyndham.

One of the first to be under construction is a property in Wyndham Vale that, once complete, will allow three adults with high-care needs to live independently with round-the-clock care.

Empowered Liveability co-director Nicole Doherty said the organisation was founded on the belief that people with a disability should not be forced into unsuitable living conditions, such as aged care facilities.

“The point is to have them in newer estates that have better accessibility … closer to shopping centres, movies, train stations, super clinics, all of those things that you sometimes don’t get in more established areas,” she said.

GenU executive general manager Brandon Howard said this was the first time his organisation had offered supported accommodation in Wyndham.

“There are a lot of individuals who are still living with mum and dad at home, the parents are getting elderly and they’re really concerned about their adult children – who could be 45 or 50 – and what’s going to happen to them when they pass away. Something like this is fantastic,” he said.

Eligible residents need to be an NDIS participant with SDA funding, or with an exploring housing options provision.

For more information, call 1300 974 912 or go to www.empoweredliveability.com.au