WHO WE SUPPORT
Things you need to know:
Citizen Advocacy is unlike any other Disability Advocacy service …
- The concept calls for the establishment and support of a one-to-one relationship between a person with an intellectual disability who has unmet needs in one or more important life areas, and a resourceful and principled citizen who makes a personal, voluntary commitment to provide emotional and or practical support required to help meet the person’s needs.
- Citizen Advocates are INDEPENDENT. They will do what they think is best for the person.
- Citizen Advocates are not paid, reimbursed or compensated in any way.
- We are a small program with limited capacity, covering a large area – we can’t help everyone we would like to help.
- Your enquiry does not guarantee your entry into the program.
- We do not keep a waiting list of people needing assistance.
- We do not have advocates waiting to be matched.
- We do not merely rely on referrals to meet individuals who need support – we will go out into the community and find the most vulnerable people ourselves.
- It can take considerable time to find the right advocate for someone, often several months.
- The only promise we can make is that we do our best to respond respectfully and helpfully to every enquiry we receive.
We support people with intellectual disability who:
- need it the most;
- have limited or no effective supports around them;
- who are vulnerable, at risk and have unmet needs
- are of any age;
- are living within the Sunshine Coast area.
CITIZEN ADVOCACY IS NOT:
- A welfare program;
- A buddy program;
- A volunteer visitor program;
- A crisis care service;
- A part of NDIS.
WE CANT HELP EVERYONE
If we cant help you we will try to give you:
- Other places to go
- Other phone numbers to ring
- Other people to talk to.