Growing Independence
Demonstrating Excellence in Support Work, Stephen nurtures independence and capacity in his customers. The success of his customers is a testament to his ability to build relationships and create supportive environments.
For two customers, this meant developing their cooking ability. In a previous blog post, we discussed how Stephen’s support led Liam to greater independence, especially in the kitchen. Since then, Liam has continues to develop his capacity and take care of himself and his home.
With Stephen’s guidance, Liam’s home is now consistently clean. He has a rotation of clothes washing, room cleaning, and a well-stocked pantry full of food he’s buying and preparing. This is a great leap forward, as parts of his kitchen had previously been unusable.
Liam’s independence has grown significantly. With his newfound confidence, in the last few months he has booked flights to the Eastern states to visit his family, and bought tickets to a three-night live event in Perth.
Liam in the kitchen, doing independent meal prep.
Excellence in Support for all customers
Liam isn’t the only one whose life has improved with Stephen’s support.
Stephen’s teaching has extended to another one of his customers, who now prepares his own meals using vegetables he’s grown in his garden. When Stephen began supporting him, this customer had almost given up on his passion for gardening, with garden beds laying empty and dead. With support, he was encouraged to try again with silver beet. In time, these grew into a plentiful harvest that he integrated into his meals. His meal prep situation improved too. Through the addition of a slow cooker, he was able to prepare his food, then leave it to cook for himself while he works.
Since then, the customer has restocked his garden beds and continues to add them to the meals he shops for and prepares with Stephen’s supervision.
Stephen has also contributed to employable skill development for customers. With his guidance and knowledge, one customer learned workplace negotiation skills and increased his employment hours in a position he loves. Another has joined a men’s shed and is undergoing barista training to grow his employable skills.
Throughout all of this, Stephen has shown kindness and understanding to his customers and their circumstances. Stephen approaches building relationships with customers with patience and empathy, valuing long-term rapport over short-term goal completion. In time, he has become a friend and role model to some of his customers. When life’s challenges have made healthy habits hard to maintain, their relationship with Stephen has been gentle push in the right direction to get back on track.
NDS 2026 Award Nominee – Excellence in Disability Support Work
Because of this exceptional commitment to supporting his customers, Stephen has earned a nomination for the 2026 Western Australian Disability Support Awards, in Excellence in Disability Support Work.
The 2026 WADSA winners will be announced at the award ceremony on May 2nd. While we await the final winners, no award is more valuable than the impact Stephen has made on the lives of his customers. Thank you Stephen.
If you want to learn more about our other nominees, take a look at Swati’s story of creating a holiday for her customers.
