Continue reading »]]>  Noel is a charming gentleman that is regarded by family and friends as a natural athlete.

 He has always had a deep interest in sport, both as a spectator and competitor where he excelled at both, but particularly in boxing and rugby league. Real Community Services has had the pleasure of supporting Noel since April 2007.

In life everything Noel has done, he has done exceptionally well. For Queensland he has won four Championships in boxing and many district titles. During this time he was an accredited referee and judge for amateur boxing. In school, his love of sport led him to captaining the intercity rugby league team and playing for premiership winning teams in both soccer and basketball. Noel also loved the wa-ter and attained his bronze medallion for Lifesaving.

As a young adult, Noel’s talent in boxing brought him to Brisbane to pursue his goal of representing Australia. He left his job as a trainee clerk at the Bundaberg Magistrates Court and moved to Brisbane where he worked for the Department of Main Roads.

These days, Noel says he likes to take it easy, enjoying fish and chips at the Wynnum water front and having a chat to people in the shops and passers-by. He still appreciates excellence in sport and was spotted only a few weeks ago at the Wynnum Rugby Leagues Club having a good old chat to Wally Lewis about the Brisbane Broncos. (As pictured above).

Noel is always remembered and well liked by many, staying in contact with his sporting and school friends. He has also made plenty of friends in the Wynnum community where he now resides. Socialising is something that comes easily for Noel and he has certainly made a lasting impression on all of us here at Real Community Services.

Noel has a way with words, a good joke to tell or a comment he throws your way that reminds you why he likes you so much (Along with the occasional outburst of song). He always has something good to say about the people in his life. This is perhaps the reason why anyone who knows Noel can’t help but smile. He makes us smile, always !

Compiled by Caroline Rolender

(Lifestyle & Quality Management Coordinator)

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Hi my name is Josh, I am 29 years old and have a condition called Morquio’s Syndrome. I use an electric wheelchair, about 4 foot tall, wearing hearing aids and glasses. I also have a couple of earrings in one ear and a half sleeve tattoo which I am looking to expand upon at the next available opportunity. I have a Bachelor of Multimedia Studies which I completed as an external student part time due to barriers, lack of access and challenges with my health and full-time study.

The idea behind Axess.com.au was first thought of at the start of 2010. As a man with physical limitations knowing what is available and being able to easily access information and resources for my situation is extremely important and from experience you are not told of what is available unless someone you know has already accessed it.

Being an avid Internet user and a professional in the field of Internet media I have noticed upon my surfing Safari’s that there are limited resources online for disabled people and what is available is not very comprehensive and I want to fix this.

Axess.com.au is all about bringing physically challenged people, their family and their friends together in an online community to offer support to each other through sharing information, experiences and advice from their own travels. Axess.com.au is also about giving its users more comprehensive access to information from non-profit organisations, what’s happening in the news, the latest information concerning the world of the challenged and information and reviews for accommodation and entertainment venues around Australia.

Well this is just stage one. In the future I hope to have medical professionals interacting with the forum, keeping us up to date with blogs and articles on the website as to what they are doing in the field of medical research for various disabilities.

Visit Josh’s website:

Welcome-to-Axess

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David receives support coordinated through Real Community Services. David has been asked to provide his views and how he has benefited from formal training as his achievements are highly regarded.

This is a brief summary of his experience with tertiary study.

“ In 1981 I first undertook technical studies. This was at South Brisbane College of TAFE. The nature of the study was basic Computer Science, and Data Processing.

As I didn’t have anyone in my family who had gone out on a limb by starting technical study, it was an enormous challenge for me.

My mother was a hair dresser and my father a mechanic and service station proprietor. So it was up to me to learn how to do it. Now nearly 30 years later I have an Applied Science Diploma in Computing and a Degree in Computer Engineering (2000) and a half to two thirds complete Advanced Diploma in Electronics. I was awarded with a Rotary Club Award for Academic Achievement(1998).

So if you’re wise at how you plan your studies, you will be successful, and others I have found will notice it.”

David

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An Online link to Axess ‘s latest posts and articles focused on bringing insightful news and information to the individuals and families living with physical challenges. www.axess.com.au

 Axess.com.au provides the following online tools:

Articles

Blogs

Interactive Forums 

Links to other webages

Axess founder Josh, established the website “to bring physically challenged people, their family and their friends together in an online community to offer support to each other through sharing information, experiences and advice from their own travels”.

 Check out Josh’s story “Josh’s Success“.

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RCS Lifestyle Support has introduced an online copy of the annual Client newsletter. This newsletter is designed to share information with clients and provide updates and feedback opportunities.

Please find below recent publications. These newspapers are available as hardcopies, for enquiries please contact Nicole on ndoyle@realcommunityservices.com.au

Lifestyle Newsletter December 2011 Issue 25.11.11

Lifestyle newsletter August 2011 Issue 19.08.11

Lifestyle Newsletter May 2011 Issue 26.5.11

Continue reading »]]> RCS’s very own Acquired Brain Injury service, has now been rebranded to Brain Injury Community Connection (BICC). This re-branding highlights the very specific role that BICC performs in reconnecting those affected by a brain injury with their communities.

BICC collaborates with case managers, allied health professionals and families to provide targeted coordination and support staff to implement rehabilitation, life skills and reintegration programs.

For enquiries, referrals or support please contact our BICC Services Manager during office hours on (07) 3725 6500

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RCS is dedicated in supplying our team members with correct and educational information. The Field staff newsletter provides all team members with policy and procedural updates, current events, new opportunities and office news.

So if you are apart of the RCS team, ensure you obtain a copy today. ndoyle@realcommunityservices.com.au

Nicole Doyle – Service Development Facilitator

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We have designed an email letter, with the aim of keeping contacts up to date and well informed of our week to week office news. The “Real Community Services E-Letter” is sent out to our valued readers, each week with office updates, training news, feedback and various other interactive activities.

So if you would like to receive our weekly E-letter, just send your enquiry to ndoyle@realcommunityservices.com.au to join the emailing list.

E-Letter samples:

E-Letter Tues 8.11.11

E-Letter Tues 12 July 2011

E-Letter Tues 19 July 2011

Continue reading »]]> What eventful start to 2011. While Australia and the international community have had their share of trials and tribulations, Real Community services have also experienced the ups and downs of everyday life.

The recent flooding of Brisbane impacted Real Community Services clients and staff. A famous saying I often hear is “through adversity comes opportunity”, and it has been throughout the flooding event and recovery efforts that I have had the privilege to see what the term community really means. It makes me proud to be a part in many people’s lives.

During the floods and for a period afterward we unfortunately faced many interruptions that adversely impacted on service delivery. Some of the interruptions included:

•Access to clients homes (difficult if not impossible for staff)

•Payroll accounting system •Information technology and telephone/ fax systems (Including Telstra phone and data network. •Central banking system (BOQ) •Building completely submerged. •Data backup and recovery failure •Import and export licensing program difficulties •Invoicing and reconciliation reports destroyed until data recovered •Payroll interruption for approximately 2 weeks

Despite all of this, we are moving forward with some real positive changes. Real Community Services has made some significant changes within all programs most notably the lifestyle support service. We have on board, two new staff members and re structured the way in which we provide services. Our Coordinators now each have their own afterhours contact so a more personalised response to client needs is provided after hours. We welcome our newest Coordinator to the lifestyle program, Maria Romero and also welcome back Jeanette Brown to the Lifestyle team as Service Manager.

With so much that has happened since the Brisbane floods it is easy to talk about the trials and tribulations that tested us all however, my intent is to ensure that the lessons we learnt throughout these times pave the way for better service delivery and more content clients and employees throughout 2011.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the dedicated and hardworking staff (both office and field) who continued to work particularly when situations required empathy and maturity.

Thanks also go to field staff who were patient in waiting for our accounts to process pays and continue to support their clients during that time.

I wish to also thank the accounts team who worked past midnight several times, in order to have pay-roll up and running as quickly as possible.

A big thank you also goes to the office staff who worked without a desk to sit at for approx. 9 weeks some of whom also lost all of their house possessions in the floods.

Trevor Green – Managing Director

Continue reading »]]> Legislation is in place to set a framework for how the Government and services should respond in developing support for people. Funding is linked to these Acts and some of the criteria by which service quality is evaluated relates to the principles and objectives of relevant legislation.

Regular feedback from staff and services is an important way of measuring our effectiveness. We are acutely aware that providing a staff member is an important task and that the clients should be achieving higher outcomes as a result of our involvement.

All staff undergo the necessary criminal history checks relative the legislation services are governed by.

Real Community Services responds to many services and strives to maintain close working relationships so that a deeper understanding of general and specific legislative responsibilities are understood by all parties.