The last Opening Doors project house that officially opened December 2023.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
It has been a year since Community Living and Respite Services’ recent independent living units in Moama was unveiled.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The units were built as part of the Opening Doors project, which provides housing solutions for people with a disability that wish to experience living independently.
The two units built on Spoonbill St in Moama currently houses two clients, one of which has been supported by the CLRS since he was just five years old.
CLRS chief executive Leah Taaffe said that the clients living in the Moama units have achieved great progress in the past year.
“It has been going really well, the two men who moved into the houses have been kicking goals,” she said.
“They have done some things in the community that they haven’t done for a very long time, and that’s really a reflection of the fact that they're living in an environment which meets their needs, which is the entire motivation for doing the Opening Doors project.”
Project manager Alistair Morrison, CLRS chief executive officer Leah Taffe and CLRS treasurer Erin Langman at the opening of the Moama units.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The project began back in 2014 and to date, the CLRS team have built three homes and 12 units for 22 people with disability.
The homes are a robust design type that meet specific specialist accommodation standards to make homes liveable for people with disability.
This means the homes include things such as zero entry thresholds, stronger plaster, soundproofed walls and well tended outdoor areas.
Mrs Taaffe said that providing these homes for people with disability has had a positive effect on them.
“The impact that having the right kind of house can have on someone's life is really significant,” she said.
“It makes such a huge difference to people with disability to be able to live in their own community, do the things they want to do, and having safe and secure housing is a basic human right.”
The units built in Moama in 2022 are particularly special as they were made possible by an anonymous $1 million donation .
Local businesses also jumped on board and offered their services at discounted costs, bringing down the final out-of-pocket costs.
The community members at the grand opening of the Moama units.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Mrs Taaffe said that the community’s continuous support is what makes these projects possible.
“We have an amazing community, whenever we ask for help with anything our community just steps up,” she said.
“The projects that we do are only possible because of the community that we live in.”
Next year, CLRS will begin looking at the next Opening Doors project more intently, starting with the purchase of land.
21°C