Ron’s story

Ron had been living independently in his own home with support from ECHO for 3 years.  Ron is a very social man and enjoyed the company of other people and getting out about to local coffee shops for a chat. Ron had never married, and most of his family apart from one niece there was no one to support him or give him any assistance other than ECHO.  His health declined as did his eyesight and this reduced his capacity to get out and about by himself.  ECHO provided a night service to Ron to assist with his evening meal and medications.  Although Ron enjoyed these evening visits he still felt very alone.  The support worker reported that Ron was feeling quite isolated, due mainly to his inability to leave his home alone  because of his failing eyesight and other declining health issues and had expressed a desire to go into residential care.

In discussion with his case manager they set some goals together to enable Ron to find a place in a residential facility.  The case manager supported Ron through the Public Trustee system to obtain an Administrator for him. Having this in place enabled Ron to sell his home and secure his financial future.

Ron went into residential care some 6 weeks after starting this process.  He is extremely happy in his new home. He has people around him to chat to all the time, he can take part in activities and outings which he had not been able to do for some time and he had a secure financial future because he now had an Administrator to manage his financial affairs.

Residential care is not for everyone. However, Ron saw it as the best outcome for him and he made that decision for himself.

Mary’s story

Mary is a Yorkshire Lass who emigrated to Australia when she was in her 60’s to be close to her daughters. One lived in Perth and the other in New Zealand. Mary always loved lawn bowls and was a champion in her home town. She joined a bowling club in the northern suburbs and she certainly made her mark on the Australian greens. She lived quite close to her daughter and she caught up with her family quite often. She took great joy in her grandchildren and was generous with her time and her affection.

As time went on, Mary found that she needed a bit more help at home. She found it hard to do some of the heavy work, and we were pleased to be able to help. We were able to put some Domestic Assistance in to do the washing and vacuuming, which made life a bit easier.

She wasn’t a great lover of Perth summers and found the heat a little bit different from Yorkshire. We were able to get a small evaporative cooler on a stand which fitted into her unit quite nicely. Summer became a lot more acceptable. She didn’t have much of a garden but she did like to sit outside when it wasn’t too hot. Our Home and Garden Maintenance crew could give her a hand with that.

Later, she became unsteady on her feet, and worried about having a fall. We were able to provide a Blue Phone which was a monitoring service to assist in times of need. Armed with her alarm around her neck, she knew that if something did happen then help would come.

I’m not sure she ever got over leaving Yorkshire but she’s enjoying WA. Her family are glad that she is here, especially her grandson, as she buys him ice cream.

Mary is a mother, grandmother, friend, singer of songs, a story teller and a pleasure to know. We are all grateful that she is here.