We are a bunch of people with a deep commitment to social justice, human rights, inclusion and our local communities. Each of us has been involved in some way with a Circle of Support and have all seen first-hand how Circles can transform lives. We are super keen to expand their impact across the Hunter – we want Circles to be available to anyone who wants one.
A Hunter community where everyone matters, where everyone belongs and where everyone can be the fullest version of themselves as citizens.
To build freely given relationships and connections so that people with disability can take their rightful place in the heart of community.
A sense of belonging – a connection to people and places where you want to be and are wanted – is a fundamental human need. We want to create a world where everyone belongs – where everyone is respected as equal, different and unique. We want to build small, warm communities of people that care about each other and belong together.
We have some serious intentions to build community through building relationships. Our work involves working towards justice and rights for all people, to support inclusion and strong communities. With love as our ethos, we are inviting our community to find connection, providing a space where relationships can be cultivated and sustained.
We strive for justice. We take responsibility for the respect and dignity of others. We take action against the inhumane treatment, systems, policies and attitudes that harm people. We use our relationships to take action and make action possible so that everyone can enjoy the same rights, freedom and equality.
To create real change, we must always act with integrity. We won’t make promises that we can’t honour and we will always be honest, open, transparent and accountable in how we work so that mutual trust and long-term relationships can be built.
“You never know how everything is going to turn out but that’s okay…Just as long as we’re together we can find a way.” – Carole King
I am passionate about people with disability living big, full, ordinary lives. I have a pretty high level of Cerebral Palsy and I am able to bring my lived experience to my social work practice. I went right through mainstream schooling, changing from switching to direct access on my communication device to keep up with the educational pressures as well as socially. I completed my HSC in 2007 and went on to do Web Design Certificate 4. Due to a lot of mouse work, I decided that this career was not for me and went on to university. I wanted to teach others Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and therefore chose the speech pathology degree. However, I was excluded from entering this degree because I have no speech. Through being discriminated against in this experience and many other microaggressions each day, I found a love for social justice and equality for all. I believe that this world is already so difficult to navigate and some of us just need an extra helping hand to create a place where we can empower ourselves! Without question I knew social work was for me. I completed my degree over eight years (in 2019) including two 80-day placements outside the disability sector where I gathered a lot of new knowledge and skills in the areas of mental health and domestic violence.
After university, I have been using my lived experience in various peer mentoring roles including AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) and assistive technology. Currently I am involved in developing training at CDAH (Community Disability Alliance Hunter) where I ensure that lived experience is at the core of our efforts to build more inclusive communities.
“The moment we choose love, we choose to move against fear, against alienation, against separation. The choice to love is the choice to connect, to find ourselves in the other” – bell hooks
Loving relationships are a fundamental human right. Hunter Circles supports people to exercise that right. I have decades of diverse professional experience across financial services, human services, for profit and for purpose industries around the world. One of my three daughters, Nicky, who died in 2018, lived with profound disability. Nicky brought purpose, passion, wonder, beauty and joy to my life. I delight in using my professional experience to bring love to the lives of others, in Nicky’s name.
“The world amounts to nothing if together we don’t stand.” – Billy Bragg
I am a passionate about the rights of people with disability, particularly those whose voices are often unheard. My work has focussed on supporting people with profound intellectual disability to have autonomy. I believe that the most potent way to uphold people’s right to autonomy is through nurturing the power of love. It’s love that makes the world go round.
I am a speech pathologist and researcher with over 30 years of privilege working in the disability sector as a clinician, trainer, support worker, family member and researcher. I have worked in Australia, China, Hong Kong and the US in these roles. These experiences have given me a deep understanding of the barriers and enablers to inclusion, equality and citizenship for people with disability.
I’m excited to be involved in Hunter Circles as a dedicated community organisation committed to working with people who are rarely heard and harnessing the power of community and relationships to uphold people’s right to autonomy. Vive la revolution!
“I’d like to say that people can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. It’s time to take that humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed… it ain’t going anywhere! They should have that on a big billboard across Times Square. Without people you’re nothing.” – Joe Strummer
As the son of a single mum who worked in a group home, I spent a bunch of my early life with people who have disability. Our family welcomed folks mum supported into our home and our lives, and because of this I learned young the importance of loving relationships, kindness, connection, and dignity for all people.
These connections and friendships greatly impacted my life and created a path for my work. I’ve been involved the disability sector for almost 20 years and started a local disability service provider in 2017.
I love that Hunter Circles is working to build freely given relationships for people often forgotten or left behind. I feel privileged to be part of the impact this organisation can create for people with disability, and for our whole community.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
I have a passion for my local community and the connections, love and sense of belonging that can be fostered when people come together to make change. Harnessing the power of our local communities and people is our purpose at Hunter Circles.
I have 30 years experience working towards social justice, mostly in community development and advocacy with people with disability. I am passionate about human rights and shifting power and control to people with disability so everyone can lead their own life on their own terms.
There is no justice in this country without First Nations justice.
We acknowledge that we live and work on the stolen lands of the Awabakal and Worimi people. We acknowledge Traditional Owners across the country and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and we pay our respect to Elders past and present. This is, was and always will be Aboriginal land.
