Active support and individual choice have made all the difference for the five housemates of Normanby Street.
Normanby Street has a diverse team who are committed to delivering great service to the people who live there, promoting active support and empowering individual choice and control every step of the way!
The five people who live at Normanby Street Supported Independent Living in Victoria, have achieved some big goals over the last year while working together to maintain their home.
Meet David
David enjoys being a part of his community. He loves having a parma in his community as a Friday night ritual with his support worker. At home, David takes his household responsibilities very seriously and makes sure his bedding is changed and washed every Saturday, maintains the gardens, together with Julian (David is the resident lawnmower), and cleans the windows of the house.
Right now, David is focusing on his career goal, to be moved to the car washing division at work. His support worker is helping him achieve this by working with David to refine his skills on the house bus. Not even cold weather has deterred them - David often practices his technique without water, so he doesn’t freeze!
Meet Ralph
Ralph eats, sleeps, and breathes Melbourne FC. His goal is to continue being a Melbourne FC member and to go to as many games as he can. He likes to attend the games every week unless they are playing outside of Melbourne.
When Ralph discovered the MCG had gone cashless, he was disappointed and left in a tricky spot, as his only method of payment was cash. His support worker investigated options to find a way for Ralph to continue one of his biggest joys in life. They found a solution, and Ralph was supported to purchase a pre-paid EFTPOS card to use at the MCG. Ralph constantly reminds his support workers on Wednesdays, “I need to go and put money on my card!” Which he then does proudly with assistance from his support worker.
Meet Julian
Julian is Normanby’s quiet achiever. Julian loves spending time in the garden. Once he’s finished gardening, he loves to go out. Due to his love of ships and trains, Julian spends most of his time riding trains or visiting Port Melbourne to see the ships on the dock. He loves building and painting ships at his day program, and brings them home to display proudly.
Julian also goes to church, and does so independently. He also makes time to visit his family home to spend time with his sister.
Meet Glenn
Glenn is the type of guy that will always put a smile on your face. He enters a room and happily says hello to everyone. Glenn is a huge fan of 80s music and loves dancing around the kitchen while being supported to prepare dinner.
Glenn loves to go on long walks nature and likes to visit the Cranbourne Botanical gardens, where he likes to get his ‘zen’ on!
Glenn has his own courtyard at Normanby which he has decorated it with items he has bought or made. It looks fantastic, and he is very proud of his space.
Meet Steve
Steve is Normanby’s resident funny man and loves jokes. His standard joke is to tell you that your shoelace is undone and then crack up laughing the minute you look down. When not telling jokes, Steve likes to grow herbs in his courtyard and has his own BBQ that he uses in the summer to cook up snags for everyone.
Steve travels independently via public transport to church every Sunday and loves spending time with his friends afterwards, enjoying morning tea.
Steve is also one of the most organised people when it comes to tasks around the house. He’s up and about, has had breakfast, is dressed, has mopped his floors and done his washing; all before needing to leave the house at 7.50am to get to his day placement. Steve never complains about taking out the rubbish and loves to cook meals for the house.
A person’s story is precious. We take storytelling seriously. Sometimes people are able to tell their own story, and we love that. Sometimes they ask us to tell their story for them. We always make sure they give us their ok, and we will always honour the trust placed in us to bring their story forward.
