Staff matter 144

Staff matters March 16, 2018 - Issue 144 Week 34

Afford Supports Transitions in Life

In This Issue 1 Afford Supports

Transitions in Life

2 Staff Profile Afford Inspired by Women of Lindsay Change Helps Us Succeed

3 Afford Has Roadside

Assistance For Help on the Road

Ethel Wills is a much valued and loved client of Afford who, for 19 years, has enjoyed living at Cherrywood Village where she made many friends and taken part in a range of activities.

For the past year, Ethel has also been living independently in her new Group Home in Penrith - Butterflies - she loved the new surrounds, having her own space and going out into the community with her housemates and Afford staff.

Ethel is always a joy to be around, especially during their various outings to the beach and Penrith Panthers to name a few, and she also didn’t mind a cocktail now and then.

Some of her favourite activities are scrapbooking and cooking in the kitchen with her housemates.

As much as she has enjoyed living in an Afford Group Home, it has come to the time in Ethel’s life to transition to a nursing home. She will be missed by her housemates, but the great times that they have had together will always be remembered.

We wish her all the best and residents and staff are already planning trips to visit Ethel in the future.

Let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au

Gym Hub Grants Fitness Goals

4 Mazin Gets Motivated with Afford DES

Selfie Of the Week Have a Laugh

Reminder Don’t forget to send your/clients’ achievements, good news stories and photos to CELEBRATE@afford.com.au

Staff matters

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March 16, 2018 - Issue 144

Staff Profile

Aaron Young

Customer Care Coordinator

Minchinbury

Favourite Song: Walking in Memphis - Mark Cohn Favourite Movie: Prayers for Bobby.

Favourite Hobbies: Woodwork Favourite Foods: Crumbed lamb cutlets.

If you could be an animal what would you be: A Peacock What is your dream holiday destination: Zakynthos If you had the power what would you change about the world: I would change the fact that people still judge a book by its cover.

What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you:? The nicest thing someone has ever done for me is surprise me with a puppy.

If you had to teach something what would you teach: If I was a teacher I would teach art or drama.

Something no one knows about me: I studied singing and acting.

let your abilities soar

Afford Inspired by Women of Lindsay On 9 March, Afford staff, Kym Mafi, Kiralee Jackson and Christina Alvarez attended the International Women’s Day Breakfast hosted by Emma Husar MP at the Lakeside Restaurant and Penrith Regatta Centre.

The event was a celebration of the wonderful achievements of women across Lindsay and showcased the talents and successes of inspirational women in the region. Afford staff were there to support women and hear from guest speakers about their perseverance and dedication to achieve excellence.

Afford staff commented that they were truly inspired by the many and varied stories of women from the region who continue to strive for greatness and contribute to their local community. One story of particular note was from a mother who became the full time carer for her son with a disability.

Change Helps Us Succeed Changes to the NDIS have given clients greater power to learn more about the services they can receive, choose a service that individualises their care and makes their unique needs a priority.

At Afford, we understand that in order to deliver this exceptional customer service that shows empathy, honesty, courteousness, and support with a smile, our team need to be supported too.

As an Employer of Choice we have created various measures to motivate employees and provide regular incentives to drive staff to want to do their best, and better, for clients.

We want to create a constant sense of happiness among our Afford staff community which stimulates diligence, pride, honesty and integrity in our work.

The new NDIS has seen us move away from the old service offerings to now deliver more person-centred and individualised programs and become a leader in a now highly competitive industry.

Every day, we live our core mission of giving our clients great value for money and great service. We know that when we look after our clients, they will look after us.

www.afford.com.au

Staff matters

3 PLOYER EM

March 16, 2018 - Issue 144

Afford Has Roadside Assistance For Help on the Road

OF

CHOICE

Over the past few year, Afford has worked hard to ensure that sites have reliable and strongly branded Afford vehicles.

We have a fleet of vans and Hyundai i30’s that have seven year roadside assistance warranty through Hyundai, provided the vehicles retain regular maintenance services with Hyundai.

That means that if you have maintained the service of your vehicle with Hyundai, you are entitled to the roadside assistance through Hyundai.

If you ever need Hyundai Road Assistance, call 1800 186 306 and give your rego number and the Afford Business name.

If you do not service your vehicle with Hyundai, then you must advise Afford’s finance team as soon as possible, as you have broken the roadside assistance terms of Hyundai. However, you are still covered on the road by NRMA Roadside Assistance.

If you ever need NRMA Road Assistance, call 1300 369 349 and provide the membership number: 0014824B. You can also get the membership card and key tags from Selynn Oon in Afford Accounts.

If you are unsure who your current vehicle is covered with for roadside assistance please make sure you check with the Afford Finance team immediately.

Gym Hub Grants Fitness Goals Thanks to a Community Building Partnerships Grant, specialised gym equipment has been purchased for Belmore Community Hub to provide clients at Belmore with greater opportunity to exercise and progress their strength and movement.

The gym equipment has been specifically tailored for the clients atBelmore, some of which have poor mobility.

This equipment has already been used at the Centre for clients to participate in a variety of gym activities which encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. Staff at Belmore actively encourage each client to try out the equipment on a daily basis and have found that many are embracing the new gym program and, in addition, have an increased interest in healthy eating options.

Ahmed, Paula and MJ are Belmore clients that enjoy using the new equipment and participate regularly in the new Health and Wellbeing Program.

Being specially designed for Afford clients, the new equipment also allows clients in wheelchairs to use the gym and equipment.

let your abilities soar

www.afford.com.au

Staff matters

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March 16, 2018 - Issue 144

Mazin Gets Motivated with Afford DES Mazin Rafai is a client of our Disability Employment Services (DES) site in Fairfield. Mazin came to Afford DES with limited employment experience and lacked confidence in his abilities, which affected his motivation to work.

Working with Employment Consultant, Christina, and Team Leader, Joumana, Mazin began to realise the benefits of employment and searching for a role that suited his interests.

DES supported Mazin with his search for employment and provided opportunities for him to take part in interview training. Consultants also encouraged Mazin to connect with social and support networks as well as maintaining regular contact with Afford’s in-house counsellor, Luke.

During this process and with the support of Afford DES staff, Mazin identified that his main goal was to gain employment that would allow him to be financially independent and have flexibility to also complete an interpreter course and achieve accreditation. Some of his other goals included travelling overseas and focussing on his health and fitness.

For the past 12 months, Mazin has been employed as a delivery driver with Aritis Catering in Prestons. After the first six months of employment, he had saved enough money to travel overseas to New York to visit family.

Aritis Catering was very supportive of Mazin and allowed flexibility with job support including riding along with Mazin to assist him to better manage his duties. Constant communication with Mazin’s employer and job support for Mazin has meant that, even with a few initial hiccups, Mazin’s employer is very happy with the progress he has made and considers him a valuable and dedicated employee. Not only has Mazin successfully achieved and maintained his employment goal, he has also achieved his accreditation as an interpreter.

Since meeting with Afford DES staff, Mazin’s confidence has soared and he has achieved financial independence.

He has set himself new goals of completing an IT course and is currently looking to move out of home into his own place.

Well done, Mazin! You are an inspiration and we wish you the best for your future goals!

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Have a laugh

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In the Selfie Above: Staff Members - Canley Vale, celebrating their buzz night at St John’s Bowling Club.

let your abilities soar www.afford.com.au

Please send in your selfies or laughs