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Cooking ‘n Footy: Sam’s Story

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Cooking ‘n Footy: Sam’s story

We provide a broad range of health and social services to support people living with a disability. This makes taking control of the support you receive through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) a far simpler task.

One example of our services is the Hawthorn Community House, a communal hub where anyone can enrol in a range of practical courses, learn a new skill and socialise in a welcoming and safe environment.

Sam, a regular at the Hawthorn Community House, has an acquired brain injury and attends our Cooking Small, Eating Well (CSEW) program. CSEW is a practical cooking class where adults with disabilities and older people learn to prepare easy and nutritious meals. Sam had always attended CSEW with a carer. Being a dedicated footy fan, this year he was keen to attend the Australian Football League games as well. Unfortunately, there was not enough money in his disability package to cover the cost of a carer for both activities.

After meeting with Sam and his carer, the team at Hawthorn Community House agreed to support Sam to attend the cooking class independently on a trial basis so that he could use his disability package for a carer to take him to the footy. With the help of the staff at CSEW and our fabulous team of volunteers, Sam has been able to continue to participate in the program without being accompanied by a carer and has gone from strength to strength.

Sam is increasingly confident in his cooking skills and has grown into something of a group leader. He assists other participants, makes menu suggestions and recently brought a friend along to join the group. Sam’s story is just one example of our various services that clients can access via the National Disability Insurance Scheme as it rolls out in the Northern (2016) and Eastern Regions (2017).

Download Sam’s Story (PDF, 180 KB)

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