The board of Community Living and Respite Services (CLRS) hosted its 43rd AGM at Echuca Workers on Wednesday, November 23.
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Here are some of the announcements from the evening:
Major Donation – Opening Doors Project
CLRS will be delivering another Opening Doors Project in 2023, with two, two-bedroom units planned for construction in Moama.
The cost of the project is $1.3 million and is being made possible through a generous $1 million donation from a local couple who wish to remain anonymous.
This is the largest donation CLRS has ever received and it is incredibly grateful for it.
The project will provide a home for a young person who has been in the care of CLRS since the age of six. He is now about to turn 18 and needs a new home to live in.
CLRS is now commencing the search for up to two more people to live in the house.
The most recent Opening Doors Project on Barry St in Echuca cost $1.8 million to deliver and this is a major investment both by CLRS and the community who support this through our fundraising efforts.
Financial outcomes
CLRS recorded a financial result of $1.8 million loss for the 2021/2022 year, which mainly occurred as a result of the requirements to use labour hire staff to maintain essential residential services. The need to use labour hire transpired out of more people being impacted by COVID-19 and therefore being required to isolate.
Every labour hire staff member costs 70 per cent more than a CLRS staff member and the difference is not funded by either the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) or Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
The board is looking forward to a return to surplus in the 2022/2023 financial year as a result of less use of labour hire staff and the efforts of the team to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
The Opening Doors Project on Barry St cost $1.8 million to construct and injects significant revenue into the local economy and provides ongoing permanent employment for 10 people.
Reappointed
Current board members Wayne Jenkin and Erin Langman were appointed for a further two and three-year terms respectively.
Years of service awards
Twenty-six staff members have been recognised for their years of service.
Fifteen employees have completed five years of service, five have achieved 10 years and two have accomplished 15 years.
Three team members have fulfilled 20 years of service — Teresa Norris, Rosemary Hermans and Deb McDonald.
Teresa has a passion for supporting young people. She has worked across various CLRS settings including club teen, respite, daily living and out-of-home care, which is where she is today. Teresa is dedicated to ensuring young people are living the life they choose and supporting them to develop the skills to enable this.
Rosemary started as a direct support professional (DSP) after working in palliative care and psychiatric nursing. Rosemary has moved through the organisation, to her current position of services manager for residential. Rosemary has been involved in all Opening Doors Projects to date. She brings more than 40 years of experience and passion for behaviour support and focus on the reduction in restrictive practice to our team.
Deb also started her work as a DSP before moving into house manager role between 2008 and 2014, and then returning to club teen in a DSP role. Deb is an invaluable member of the club teen and wider defined programs team. Deb’s knowledge of the program and clients from her years working in the program is second to none.
And finally, one person achieved 25 years of service, which is an incredible achievement.
Kaylene Barker commenced in August 1997 as a DSP. At the time of commencement, CLRS was known as ‘Accommodation for Disability Echuca Incorporated’ or ADE. Over the 25 years, Kaylene has built long trusting relationships with many clients, watching children grow and develop into adults. Today Kaylene is a long-standing valuable member of the daily living team delivering exceptional support to clients in the community.
Retiring board member acknowledgement
Leanne Cuffe joined the CLRS board in August 2013 and is retiring from the board, after nine years of service.
In 2014 she took on the role of secretary and held this role until November 2020. Leanne held roles on both the Fundraising and Audit and Risk Committees and her insight, sharp focus and financial acumen has been a great addition to the team. Finance manager Kylie Bruns in particular appreciated Leanne’s support which helped to develop improved reporting and processes within the organisation.
As a board member, Leanne provided leadership, support and guidance to the organisation through a significant period of both industry change and organisational change. She has supported the introduction of the NDIS, the development of several strategic plans and a new chief executive, all of which have guided the organisation well.
Leanne is planning to continue her support of CLRS through attending the Annual Fundraising Dinner, supporting the Opening Doors Project and Johnno’s Run.
All team members at CLRS would like to thank Leanne for her contribution and the work she has done in guiding the organisation over the past nine years. Her work in supporting the organisation to continue to deliver services to people with disability in our community into the future has been invaluable.
Cletus Gilmour fundraising award
Cletus Gilmour was a staff member of CLRS who passed away in December 2015.
She was very proud to be an employee of CLRS and developed a strong passion and commitment to raising funds to improve outcomes for people with disability. This award is in memory of the passion and commitment of Cletus to fundraising in support of CLRS.
The winners of the Cletus Gilmour Fundraising Award in 2022 is the client and staff team of 5 Minor St. Over the past year, CLRS has been unable to host the usual Annual Fundraising Dinner and as a result we have had to develop new ideas for fundraising. This resulted in the delivery of two major raffles — the Opening Doors Project mega draw and a car raffle. Both of these raffles required a huge amount of effort from a team of people.
The team of clients and staff at 5 Minor St consist of Kim Boland, Sheree Arnold, Emma Martin Smith, Andrea Johnston, Alicia Weaver, Jody Guascoine, Maryjo Piggott, Barbara Emms, Sarala Rai and Meryl Lonergan — all of whom worked tirelessly together as a team to make a significant contribution to the success of these raffles.
The team took a very active part in supporting the car raffle. The way in which the team supported each other, got out and about and drove sales of raffle tickets, demonstrated beautifully the criteria that Cletus had specified.
The team proved just how capable people with disability are and demonstrated the value of fundraising. They have made a significant difference to CLRS and the community by showing what can be achieved when everyone on a team works together to achieve a common goal.
Riverboats raffle launches
CLRS is a community partner of the Riverboats Music Festival and we are delighted to again be holding our Riverboats raffle where you could win a double weekend pass for the 2024 Riverboats Music Festival for only $2 a ticket.
You could also win a Pacdon Park Hamper or vouchers for either Johnny & Lyle or the Murray River Tea Rooms.
Raffle books, each with 10 tickets, are available from Gillian Noelker. Contact Gill on (03) 5480 2388 or at 26A Percy St to access the tickets.
Annual Fundraising Dinner is back
We are thrilled to announce that we will once again be able to hold our dinner in 2023 — our first since 2020.
The guest speaker for the evening is Peter Rowsthorn. Peter is best known for his television roles starting way back in the 80s with the Comedy Company and more recently as the long-suffering husband Bretty in Australia's most successful sitcom Kath and Kim.
We are looking forward to having a night of laughs, especially after the pandemic and now the ongoing flood crisis.
We have changed our date since we last hosted the event, from the last Tuesday in February to the first Thursday in March. This means we will be hosting our dinner on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
We hope to see as many of you as possible. Tickets will be available in the next few weeks so please keep close attention to your emails, social media, Edge FM/2QN and the Riverine Herald.
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