Benefits of Supported Independent Living
For people with high disability care needs, who need support most or all of the time, NDIS-funded Supported Independent Living (SIL) is a great way to access reliable support in the comfort of home. It means you have the peace of mind of around-the-clock disability support, while maintaining your independence, learning new skills, and enjoying a great social life.
Opportunities for empowerment
SIL can be an exciting opportunity for independence! It can be a way for a young adult with disabilities to make that first move out of their family home, with the peace of mind that a caring, professional support team is there to help keep track of things like personal care, medication, and life skill development.
SIL may also be a solution if a person’s care needs are increasing, and a loved one can no longer manage their full-time care. By moving in to SIL, you can rely on your regular in-home care, then the time spent with your loved ones can be focused on your relationships.
Learning and growing
SIL support helps you to live independently, and to develop essential life skills, based on your goals. So, while your support team is helping you with meal preparation, for example, they’re also supporting you to learn how to plan, shop for, and prepare nutritious meals for yourself and others. The same goes for things like household chores, cleaning, laundry, and budgeting. It’s all about helping you to achieve your goals, your way.
Share supports to maximise value
SIL supports are usually provided in a share-house setting, where two or three people (depending on their needs, or care ratio) live as house mates. They have a regular team of support workers, who take turns coming to the home on a roster basis, to provide support to all of the housemates at the same time. This way, the housemates share the cost of the supports from their NDIS budgets.
This share-house arrangement is also an efficient way to share living costs, such as rent and even groceries. (SIL funding does not cover these other living costs, but members of the household can be part of an agreement on how to share them equally.) These share-house settings can be a great way to make new friends and develop social skills. At For Care, we love bringing together like-minded people to share SIL homes, and watching new friendships grow! We co-ordinate meet-and-greets for potential housemates, so they can get to know each other and see if they ‘click’.
Safe, comfortable, accessible homes
We’ll be honest – at For Care we’re pretty picky about where we establish our SIL homes! We know they must be a place that you are happy and proud to call “home”, and to have your family and friends come to visit. We ensure our homes are:
– in a quiet neighbourhood
– handy to public transport
– close to shops, cafes, services.
We also look out for parks, bayside locations, or other recreational spots nearby.
The common areas of our SIL homes (kitchen, lounge, dining, alfresco) are ready-furnished, and we focus on providing quality, comfortable furnishings and décor. You are most welcome to bring along your own bedroom furniture to make the space your own. But if you need bedroom furniture supplied, we can arrange that for you too.
Want to know more?
If you’re still exploring SIL as an option for yourself or a loved one, you may have many more questions!
Feel free to check out our Frequently Asked Questions, or contact us to make a time for a chat.
You may also like to view our current SIL vacancies around southern Queensland. Or talk to us about other SIL opportunities in the area where you want to live. We’d love to work with you on a solution that suits your needs!
