Dadirri Disabilty Services history

Thirty years ago Margaret McCauley was pondering the fate of a friend's two children with disabilities after they finished school when she saw a successful example of group living in the US.

She was still living in Sydney when she heard through her old school network that Kerever Park in Burradoo might be available for development.

"I wanted to build two purpose-built residences on the site and turn the Kerever Park building into a creative activity centre, but the government wouldn't fund it because 'normalisation' was the focus - they wanted the residents to be closer to the community. After that plan was knocked back, I already had the board in place so we found another house - Clearview - in 1984," Margaret said.

For the next decade the organisation, then known as Kerever Park Projects, ran the Clearview house in Bowral and Bowral Buttery, where people learnt skills by working in the coffee shop. When the structure of government funding changed and the Buttery became unviable, the business and the proceeds were used to buy a second house, Braeside.

"It was a significant moment when we had two houses," Margaret said.

Last month the organisation, now known as Dadirri Disabilty Services (Dadirri is an Aboriginal word that means 'inner deep listening and quiet still awareness and waiting) opened its fifth house for residents and now provides a home for 21 residents.

"When we started with our first house in Clearview Street, we had one staff member who would work four days and four nights straight, and then another who would do three days and nights. Now we have a staff of more than 50 across the five houses, many of whom have been with us more than 10 years," Margaret said.

The new house in Moss Vale was purpose-built by GJ Gardener homes and features double-wide doorways and halls to accommodate wheelchairs. There are six bedrooms, a gym and a music room as well as other communal areas.

Social educator Dawson Grennan who works at the house said the staff were visitors there.

"The residents clean the house, plan their menus and do all the cooking - it's their house," he said.

"We do with, not for, our residents. We teach living skills and involve residents in the community."

While the aim is for residents to learn life skills, it is unlikely that they would ever live on their own.

"However the client's wish is paramount - if they want to try to live on their own we will support them," Dawson said.

Margaret said there was incredible demand for places such as these in the district.

"As the population ages, there is increasing concern about what will happen to people who need assistance when their parents can no longer care for them," she said.

"Unfortunately we cannot give preference to local families: the government allocates people to us based on need, not proximity."

And it is not just the residents who benefit from the group homes.

"We have found that people who had a pre-conceived idea about what it would be like having a group home in their neighbourhood have had their fears allayed. We have never had any major problems and most people are very accepting," Dawson said.

"We do get a lot of support from local businesses who give us significant discounts on what we need. Our furnishings, d cor and general house presentation, are all very high quality," Margaret said.

For the new house, known as Oak House, Bing Lee donated a double-door stainless steel fridge, Winter Hill Tree Farm gave established trees and plants, Big W provided a $250 gift card and several other retailers reduced their prices for Dadirri.

Margaret said that until now, Dadirri had been happy to stay under the radar in terms of fundraising, but with recent changes in the way government funding was distributed (it now resides with each resident rather than with the home) the organisation now had to operate as a business to attract business.

"We have developed a new logo featuring hands - it reflects the many ways the residents, staff and the community work together hand-in-hand," Margaret said.

For more information visit www.dadirri.org.au