Disability, Indigenous Art, and Profound Need

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 – 8:30 p.m. Melbourne time

By Teressa Jackson

Today was my first official Vocational Day. In the morning, I met with Brenda Lacey of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations. Brenda has been with AFDO since 2004 and explained that their organization is the peak organization representing consumers with all types of disabilities. Their members are all organizations run by and for people with disabilities. An organization cannot be a member unless a majority of their Board Members have a disability, and AFDO itself is run by a Board and staff comprised entirely of people with disabilities.

Funding for disability services went through a change in Australia last July. Currently, this new model, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), has taken effect in only three regions of Australia. It enables consumers to direct and negotiate their service package and how it is used. Brenda had as many questions for me as I had for her, and I shared the setup of Rauch and our programming, and discussed the ways in which our consumers are given choice as well as our challenges. I really enjoyed meeting her and learning about their work.

Indigenous Art at Ian Potter Gallery

After a short break in the graffiti-filled Hosier Lane, visit to see indigenous art at the Ian Potter Gallery, and lunch, I spent the remainder of the afternoon with Jeff Percy of Olympic AdultEducation. Olympic is located in a high-poverty area of West Heidelberg, which was once the site of the 1956 Olympic Village. When the Olympics were over, the facilities were converted to public housing and thus a high concentration of need formed there. Their offices are located in a collaborative space with medical, legal, and other service providers.

Olympic provides a variety of training for individuals in the West Heidelberg area, including basic literacy, English as a Second Language, math, driver’s education, computers, and other interests. They offer some courses for students with mild intellectual disability to improve their work-related skills. I was interested to learn that their Board of Directors is referred to as a “Committee of Management” (I’m really enjoying all the different terminology in Australia). They are primarily funded by state and federal government, and also receive funds from local government.

Jeff toured me around the neighborhood to give me a feel for the culture and resources offered to its residents, and then took me to a Community Kitchen where volunteers were preparing meals for people in need. The food smelled wonderful and the volunteers were friendly and welcoming. They explained that they take the meal to a site to distribute, and in addition they provide families with bags of various staples that I helped to assemble while I was there. I enjoyed speaking with the people there and they were interested to learn about me as well. I also met Brother Harry of the Exodus Community who ministers to the poor there. It turns out that Brother Harry was actually a GSE Team Member in the 1970s in Nebraska and South Dakota. He gave me a lovely book about the people they serve, and when I have a big box of tissues handy I will sit down and read it. It will be a wonderful remembrance of our trip.

View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.