Copy
MAY 2019
Hooray...it's May! And time for another YB News.
We love sharing our news with you. Don't forget to share me with your friends!
Share
Tweet
Forward

Turning a big dream in to reality

OUR DREAM BECOMES A REALITY <<WATCH HERE>>
Two years ago we had a big dream to create a central place for our YB staff. This is finally coming true.

Construction has begun on transforming the former Skate City building on Ruthven Street in to our new home - YB Central.

It is an exciting time and we're grateful to Lavish Constructions Pty Ltd for helping us turn our dream in to a reality.

The building will cater for a mixture of office-based employees and our garden maintenance team with machinery fleet. There will also be a multi-use space to host meetings and small events that we have not had before.

“We have more than 120 staff who currently work in different locations and rarely get the opportunity to connect and work alongside each other,” said Penny Hamilton, YellowBridge Chief Executive Officer.

“Bringing everyone together will have enormous benefits and help us to be more efficient and collaborative."

“It will also help us to deliver a more streamlined process to our clients and service partners."

“We are very excited about moving in to a building that has been the site of many happy and memorable experiences for local people and making it our own."

The building works will be coordinated by Lavish Constructions, a local construction firm who understands the special nature of this project.

We will continue to use our community centre at 46 Hill Street as a designated disability support centre. Our boutique op shop, Collectables, will also continue to operate at 2 Station Street.

Century 21 races to help

Our client, 22 year-old Crystal Pollard, is a rising para athlete star who won Silver at this year's State Championships in the 100 metre event.

She travels to Brisbane with her support worker every second weekend for professional training. Her family were considering if the travel costs were still viable when Geoffrey Jordan from Century 21 Marsden Realty Toowoomba, in partnership with online property business realestate.com.au, offered to help. Read the full story here

Youth driving grant

Our young drivers like Synette will continue to receive support to achieve their drivers licence.

We are thrilled to receive a Volunteers Grant which will go towards providing driving lessons for the young people of our Learner Driver Program. These lessons will in turn provide our young drivers with essential skills to keep our precious Volunteer Driver Mentors safe. It is a terrific program, helping our young people receive driving lessons and complete their 100 hours of supervised driving.

Win for deaf community

The Darling Downs Deaf Hub will soon be a reality thanks to a $95,000 NDIS grant.

The grant will be used to formalise the Darling Downs Deaf Hub, improve community and employer opportunities and provide skills for deaf people. It is the first grant of its type and size for the Toowoomba deaf community and we're really pleased to be supporting them to make it happen. Read the full story here

Share the joy

Our delivery of donated goods has arrived in Brisbane at the All Saints Anglican Church.

Through the YB grapevine, we heard that Father Daniel (pictued with our staff member Chop Muir) and his parish wanted to start an op shop to help their local refugee families. We decided to forgo our usual Collectables Garage Sale and donate the items to them instead. We have been so fortunate to receive amazing support since we started our own op shop that we wanted to pay-it-forward to help them.

First time experiences

Our client Kerrod and his support workers travelled to Melbourne recently for the annual DeafBlind Camp at Phillip Island.

This trip featured a lot of 'firsts' for Kerrod. It was the first time Kerrod went on a plane. The first time he has visited Melbourne. And the first time he has been on a bungee swing! It was an awesome experience for him. You only have to look at that smile to know how much fun he had.

Home Care Packages

If you've been approved for a Home Care Package, then we can help you with a wide range of services.

- Personal and domestic services
- Social support
- Meal preparation
- Nursing and allied health
- Medication management
- Transport
- Home improvements

Call our friendly team to find out more on 1300 882 764.

CEO's Comment

Penny Hamilton, Chief Executive

Imagine living in a world where no one knows your language and you must navigate everyday life using interpreters and special services to help you communicate with others.

That is the reality for our deaf community. With society’s lack of fluency in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and lack of understanding of the deaf community comes challenges in other aspects of daily life for deaf individuals: employment, education, healthcare, emergency preparedness, technology, and understanding the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
 
The ability to offer significant support to our deaf community is an honour for YellowBridge. We are delighted to be in receipt of a grant to assist formalising the Darling Downs Deaf Hub and embarking on a journey to fulfil their vision of creating employment opportunities, encouraging social inclusion and creating awareness in the broader community. The informal group of 11 committed deaf people are currently assisting over 50 deaf people and their families predominately in a volunteer capacity; and their support is critical to their community. The grant will provide the opportunity to form an Incorporated Association with clear objectives, purpose and direction and will provide a central body to be the point of contact for their community and an avenue for the wider community.
 
For me personally, I am very proud of the work we are about to do. My grandparents were born in the early 1900’s, both deaf, both living 90+ years through two world wars and the depression; and both supporting me through my childhood, adolescent years and motherhood. They were amazing grandparents and not only showed me great love but also the strength, drive and resilience of the deaf community. There is no doubt their deafness came with barriers in their lives, and some of those barriers still exist today. It is time to remove these barriers and to remember that we are a diverse society of unique individuals with unique strengths.
 
I am looking forward to walking hand in hand with our deaf community to help them be heard and understood.

Here's what you loved on Facebook ...

Want to see more? Like our Facebook page here

We are BETTER TOGETHER
Thanks to our sponsors and partners
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Web
Email
Copyright © 2019 YellowBridge QLD All rights reserved.

E: connect@yellowbridgeqld.com.au P: 07 4639 3821

Subscribe  Unsubscribe from this list  Forward to a friend  Update subscription preferences 

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp