Trips to the beach for a group of high-needs young adults on the Central Coast have now become a reality, with the recent purchase of a beach wheelchair thanks to the Hireup Impact Grants program.
Elida Christoffersen was one of nine successful recipients of the inaugural program presented by HIreup, Australia’s largest NDIS-registered disability support worker platform.
She applied on behalf of her son, Jesse Delmas, 20, and his disabled peer group, for whom beach trips have been a challenge.
“We are a group of mums who got together through a Facebook group, with all of our children being too high-needs for various day programs,” Christoffersen said.
“We get together with our children, who are all young adults, once or twice a week and do various activities with them.
“We have been bowling occasionally and we take them to a special centre in Sydney with indoor equipment catering to high-needs young people, including special mats and a disability swing.”
But trips to the beach present more of a challenge to the small group.
“Jesse suffers from the very rare WOLF-Hirschhorn syndrome, which has many side effects including epilepsy and diabetes,” Christoffersen said.
“He is non verbal and cannot walk independently.
“I suppose the correct term is developmentally delayed.
“Our group has found it difficult to find outdoor activities for the young people.
“Jesse loves the beach, even just going for walks along the sand, but access is a problem.
“Many beaches do have special wheelchairs, but they are often either in use or in disrepair.”
Now with their own chair, Jesse and his friends will be able to enjoy the beach days so many of us take for granted.
“These activities are so important for Jesse so he can keep in contact with his peer group in different ways.”
Elida Christoffersen
The Hireup Impact Grants program is designed to fund activities not covered by an NDIS plan, with the theme for this grant round “community connection”.
Hireup co-CEO Laura O’Reilly the nine grants will see recipients develop individual skills, purchase equipment that will improve their quality of life, and engage in enriching and valuable experiences so they can better connect with, and immerse themselves within, their communities.
The successful grant applications were assessed by a committee made up of Hireup employees and individuals from the Hireup Community Advisory Group.
The funding ranged from $1,200 to $15,000 and all activities fall outside of the NDIS funding criteria.
The Impact Grants Program was launched by Hireup in July with The Achieve Foundation, a new organisation which aims to increase the social inclusion of people with disability, coming on board to assist with $20,000 in funding support.
“This is the inaugural Hireup Impact Grants program and it is our hope that there will more to come from Hireup in this space, because we need grants like this to supplement the NDIS,” O’Reilly said.
Terry Collins