Shane, aged 55, has been Multicap’s customer for the past five years since his move from Melbourne and is a Self Advocacy founding member now leading the program at Multicap’s Capalaba Hub.
Shane was always able to voice his thoughts, opinions, and ideas but since partaking in Self Advocacy at Multicap his confidence to speak in public and to approach people when asking questions or seeking help has greatly improved.
One of Shane’s personal Self Advocacy goals for 2022 is to do more public speaking events. Shane gave this speech to over 100 guests at Multicap’s 60th Celebration event on Friday, 25 March 2022:
Today I will be talking about my experience with Multicap and its many services I’ve experienced as a customer over the last five years. I go to the Capalaba Hub, and I can tell you all that it has been an amazing experience.
Thanks to Multicap, I have learned many, many things, made lots of friends and got to do lots of activities that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to do so with any other organisations.
In my five years, I have become a HAVEN (Have A Voice & Educate Network) member and a leader for my Self Advocacy group in Capalaba, I attend the Hub four days a week, got a job for a short period of time working two days a week with a coffee cart and live in a Supported Independent Living (SIL) home, which I got through Multicap.
I am currently looking for more work now as I feel it is very important to have people with disability working as it lets us become more independent and makes sure we don’t end up on the streets. People with a disability are always at risk of being homeless and is why having a job is very important to me.
Being able to talk about this stuff is something I was not able to do before, and I learned to speak up for myself and others at Self Advocacy. In Self Advocacy we talk about how people with disabilities can speak up about things that are important to us and give feedback not only at Multicap but other companies and the Queensland government. I was once asked to give my feedback on the experiences of with people with disability waiting to see Doctors or a Nurse in hospital and how hospital staff can do better in dealing with patients like me better. I enjoy Self Advocacy because I feel what I have to say matters and I can make a difference in improving the lives of people with disability like me.
I also really enjoy going to the Hub because I get to meet people, hang out with my friends, and do things in the community together like baking, playing board games, visit the local club to have lunch and the local library to read. Hubs are fun places, and it is nice to go there and feel included in the community. I really think you should try it if you can.
Thanks to Multicap I live in a SIL home which I also think you should try for anyone who is thinking about it, because you will love it as much as I do. Why do I like it so much? Well, staff at my SIL teach and help me learn how to be more independent and support me by making sure I am doing my chores properly, cooking dinner properly and making sure I get to my appointments on time. I share my SIL home with a housemate and with the help of staff we get to be independent.
Knowing that Multicap is celebrating its 60th birthday makes me happy because not only was I asked to speak here today. I am proof of the amazing things Multicap does for people with a disability. It is a nice and fun place where we make life-long friends and become more independent with our lives.
As an older person with a disability, getting services like I do at Multicap is important so we can all have a great life and that we are living life to the fullest whilst making friends and great memories along the way.
Thank you.
Caption: Shane speaking at Multicap’s 60th Celebration event.