Julie's story

Hi, my name is Julie. I have Cerebral Palsy. This affects everyone differently. For me, it affects my legs. My brother Brian also has Cerebral Palsy.

I used to live in my own Queensland Housing unit in Ipswich. It was a small unit. The neighbours were nosey. This made me upset. SO I moved to current home about two years ago.

Then FSG- which stands for Freedom Social Justice and Growth- asked me if I would like to join their RSP program. RSP- Resident Support Program is a program supports me to manage my personal care and to link in with my local community. This helps me to shower because I feel safer knowing there is someone close by in case I fall.

 I enjoy getting out and about with staff and groups of people. I have joined into the craft group that is run for FSG participants and I have made new friends and enjoy talking with FSG staff too. My favourite outing was to the park when we had pizza together.

I moved across to the TIDES program for a while. TIDES stands for Towards Inner Discovery Enabling Self-hood and is a short to medium term program that runs for a maximum of 12 months. It is a transitional program that helps people to become more self-sufficient. I now go to work at FSG on a Thursday. I volunteer my time in the TASTE program- Taking A Step Towards Employment- I work in the op-shop and Greenshop, sorting donations and helping to package the products that we supply to other offices and sites in the Ipswich area. I like going to work, and my goal is to gain paid employment in the future.

The RSP program has helped me to do things in the community that I want and need to do. This helps me to not feel isolated. This makes me feel good. I enjoy going to the office to learn how to cook and to do painting. I meet new people and learn new things.

My children come and visit me at Christine Court. Their names are Pamela, Katrina and Jason. Pamela lives in Toowoomba. Katrina lives in Ipswich and Jason lives at Redcliffe.

Today is World CP  Day a day to share ideas on how to improve the lives of the 17 million people around the world with CP. You can read these ideas at World CP Day Website.