Moreton Bay shines at Disability Sector Awards

Moreton Bay mums Kylie Reeves and Alana “Tink” McMullen were among the finalists in this year’s Queensland Disability Sector Awards.

The awards, run by the National Disability Leadership Organisation, recognise the work of people living with disability, professionals, volunteers and staff working within the sector.

Julie Gertsel from Claire’s Cottage at Ferny Hills was named Frontline Manager of the Year, Ellie Oldfield from Caboolture-based Boundless Support Services was awarded Support Worker of the Year and Branka Novic from Supreme Community Care at North Lakes was a finalist in the Frontline Manager category.

Kylie was a finalist in the Child Advocacy and Above and Beyond categories, while Tink was a finalist in Adult Advocacy and Sector Advocacy.

Advocating for others

The Mount Pleasant based founder of AUsome Supports and Pabs Place, Tink says she was excited to have been named as a finalist.

“It’s a bit of a mix – it’s an honour but stressful going to events like that,” she says.

Tink and her three daughters are autistic and she says having first-hand experience of the challenges and opportunities of the condition has helped her businesses thrive.

AUsome Supports, which was a finalist for Sector Advocacy, employs 42 neurodivergent staff and delivers activities such as group holidays, workshops, outings, and mentoring, as well as running two supported independent living houses.

“I started it because my daughter has what they term ‘high functioning autism’,” Tink explains.

“But it’s such a fluid disability – level one autism can go into level three mode under stress.

“I couldn’t find anything to help her. You teach your children not to go with strangers and the services would send strangers to pick her up.

“It’s so hard when you have people come into your house and they just don’t understand, which is why our staff are all neurodivergent.

“We understand the families we work with because this is how we live.”

Building support

Pabs Place, which was a finalist for Adult Advocacy, has been a dream of Tink’s since 2009.

She’s aiming to create a centre that’s home to a range of therapies and a place of respite for people with disabilities to connect.

“In 2009 my husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my best friend Pabs took himself home – he had brain injury-induced bipolar and he’d been trying for many years,” Tink says.

“His wife didn’t have any support and my dream is to build a place where there’s a community - a centre with different therapies and people can come to connect, with cabins for people to stay and access the therapies they need.”

Tink has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a group of rare conditions that affect connective tissue and she’s acutely aware of the importance of the continuity of therapeutic treatments and says people living with disability often shy away from taking a much-needed break.

“People don’t go away and get the time they need because they will miss their therapies.”

Helping others

Kylie co-created The Experience Collectors to support her four autistic children, aged seven to 18.

“We couldn’t access anything to suit their needs and they were very lonely,” Kylie explains.

“We started to get them together with other kids and it just exploded from there.”

Now Kylie, who is also autistic, helps other families navigate accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

She’s thrilled about being named a finalist in two categories of the Queensland Disability Sector Awards.

“It’s always a good feeling when someone recognises you,” Kylie says.

She says finding a way through the NDIS network can be particularly challenging, especially for parents who are also neurodivergent.

“My autistic fixation is NDIS access,” Kylie says.

“If you’re autistic it’s really hard to figure out the steps.

“People are paying thousands for access to things that should be free.

“I show them how to use their plan because they’re not taught.

“It was hard for me, but a privilege that I figured it out and now I can share that knowledge with others.”