Safeguarding the future conference - Canberra, 23-24 May 2024

Becoming a Housemate

The things that build a good life are not always offered by service providers and don’t always fall under NDIS line items.

Isaac is 18 and is a part-time college and University student, a delivery man, a drum club member, a live band fan and a housemate. He also has a complex disability. He lives in Canberra with his parents, Sheree and David, and brother Ben.

Sheree has found that the things that build a good life are not always offered by service providers and don’t always fall under NDIS line items. Building a good life requires a lot of work that Sheree felt she couldn’t do on her own. So she sought the help of family and friends to build Isaac a life where he is fully included in his community.

Together they have become a microboard – an incorporated association known as Isaac’s Band of Brothers and Sisters Inc. “The Band” as it is otherwise known has achieved amazing things including

  • setting up a small business
  • supporting Isaac to transition to living in an ordinary share house with non-disabled friends
  • and helping him to experience University.