Strong Voices

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of the creation of IHC’s property company, Accessible Properties.

Thanks to a brainwave of IHC Art Awards Ambassador Dame Denise L’Estrange Corbet, the three top works in the 2020 IHC Art Awards were auctioned live at Webb’s art auctioneers in Auckland, in association with a WORLD Legacy Charity Project event called Artists 4 Artists.

Researcher Sharon Brandford is keenly aware of the outrage felt in the disability community over the way New Zealand treats the lives and premature deaths of people with intellectual disabilities.

Debbie Kennedy has done years of work experience in hospitality and customer service with little pay to show for it. She estimates half of the work she has done has been unpaid.

Belinda Donaldson is our new IHC i-Volunteer coordinator. Her role is to implement an online/virtual volunteer programme to help link carers and people with intellectual disabilities with online friends. Belinda isn’t new to working with IHC Volunteering and for the past several years has been working behind the scenes on annual customer satisfaction surveys and updating the coordinator manual.

IDEA Services and Choices NZ are trialling an extension of the IHC MySupport database to allow the people we support and their families to view their information.

People with hidden disabilities such as autism, dementia and ADHD can now travel a little easier after Wellington Airport launched a new initiative to discreetly let staff know when a person might need extra help. Anyone travelling through the airport can now request a special green lanyard, which will help staff identify people who might need extra care.

Free bus travel for carers of people with accessibility concession cards is now available in the Waikato region.

School leavers looking for work will have extra help this year thanks to a new scheme being trialled in a number of secondary schools.

Shelby is the youngest of the five Porowini kids and his arrival upended their family life. But being told he was beautiful made all the difference.