Interchange is proud to announce the nomination of several staff members for the annual Disability Support Awards.
Nominations are made by members of the public who believe that a staff member from any WA Disability Organisations (Perth Metro or Regional), has gone above and beyond ordinary standards of service.
The National Disability Services (NDS), in partnership with the Department of Communities, established these awards to celebrate the significant contributions of individuals and teams who support people with disability to achieve their goals.
This contribution is at the core of everything we do here at Interchange as we believe in living the motto that “Everyone Belongs”.
We frequently hear stories from our community about the fantastic work that our staff contribute to the lives of our Interchange family.
Thank you to the staff and families who put forward their suggestions for this year’s nominees.
The nominees are:
- Begonya Ward for Excellence in supporting social inclusion
- Nathan Hamilton for Excellence in advocacy and rights promotion
- Barsha Shahi and team for Excellence in home and family support, and
- Chloe Doomen for Excellence in improving employment opportunities.
Importantly, this year we were also able to recognise the people – in addition to our own staff – that we collaborate with for the provision of supports through Shared Management and Home and Life Sharing.
Shared Management has helped us to work alongside a young woman with complex needs who requires 24/7 support. Interchange has assisted her family to employ their own staff and build a Support Team around their daughter, and we love being part of this successful team as an advisor, mentor and administrator.
Through Home and Life Sharing we have seen how a young adult has moved into the home of a person with shared interests and has grown their skill, confidence and identity. The Home Sharer is not an employee of Interchange but a person we have engaged to share their home and life. Both people connect with Interchange advisors to plan for the future and problem solve, making us an important part of the Support Team.
Every day we have people delivering great disability support services, Perth-wide so support for this award opportunity is one way of recognising the great outcomes being made in terms of working alongside people to live the life they choose.
The Awards also provide an opportunity to recognise excellence in leadership and innovation to continuously improve disability supports and create better outcomes.
Finalists and winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Crown Perth on Saturday, 11 May 2019. Winners of each category receive a cash prize of $2000 and a trophy.
Congratulations and good luck to all our nominees!