Sherri Cincotta couldn’t be more excited about her son, Tom’s, new purpose-built home.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
After years of work, Sherri Cincotta’s son, Tom, will finally be moving into a purpose-built home which is expected to markedly improve his quality of life.
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Ms Cincotta’s battle to secure NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation for her son began about eight years ago.
Now 23, Tom is Ms Cincotta’s youngest son of three, all of whom have been diagnosed with autism.
When the NDIS was first introduced to the region, the money Ms Cincotta received for Tom was exhausted within three weeks due to his complex support needs.
“And then all hell broke loose. I had no downtime, no respite,” she said.
As a result, Tom was put into out-of-home care in late 2017, which Ms Cincotta said was extremely difficult for her family to deal with.
Sherri Cincotta couldn’t be more excited about her son, Tom’s, new purpose-built home.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
Despite the hardship, it gave Ms Cincotta a chance to fight for more adequate funding.
“I did fight. I sent a letter to the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency, and sent it to 16 federal ministers throughout Australia,” she said.
About 18 months later, Ms Cincotta’s efforts paid off, and Tom received the assistance he needed from the NDIS.
He was able to return home, and now receives the support of two care staff around the clock.
“He’s got a lot of dependency on people to get him through,” Ms Cincotta said.
“He can’t shower, he can’t cook — he’ll never be on his own.”
When the new funding and support came through, a team of professionals performed a housing assessment for Tom, and recommended he move into a purpose-built home.
The exterior of Tom's new home.
Photo by
Ryan Bellingham
Tom received ‘robust’ funding from the assessment, prompting Ms Cincotta to become a registered Specialist Disability Accommodation, or SDA, provider.
“The SDA home can’t operate without an SDA provider,” she said.
“I took on quite a feat, because it was a lot of work.
“I've had that for three and a half, nearly four years, thinking that the house was going to be built three years ago.”
But finally, after years of waiting, Tom is ready to move into his new home in Echuca, which Ms Cincotta had a hand in designing to ensure it met his needs.
Site manager Charles Machin at Tom's home.
Photo by
Ryan Bellingham
Everything down to the tap handles have been considered in the home, built by AV Building, to ensure it is suitable and sturdy enough to withstand aggression.
It encourages Tom’s autonomy, has overnight rooms for carers, and follows safety and security procedures.
If all goes according to plan, Tom will be moving into his new home on the last weekend of May, and Ms Cincotta couldn’t be more thrilled.
“It’s so exciting — I’ve been waiting so long for this,” she said.
“I could have employed someone to manage this house, but... I just want to do the absolute best for all my kids.”
While Ms Cincotta is planning to take some time for herself once the move is finalised, she’s already envisioning what else the property could offer.
“My vision has been to develop this into a space that he can access. Not be locked away, but access,” she said.
“I want to create a bike path around the block. I want to put in animals, because he loves chasing animals, loves feeding them.”
There are tentative plans for Ms Cincotta to use her SDA provider status to help others, but for now, she’s focusing on her family.
In the meantime, she plans to put some skills she’s picked up along her journey to use here.
“I just want to get back to basics. Wander around on a little tractor, and enjoy it,” she said.
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