While many Australians find the burdens of parenthood ease as their children reach independence, for parents of children with intellectual disabilities their special responsibilities will never disappear.
At a time when family members caring for intellectually disabled loved ones are often driven to desperation by lack of government resources and funding, the launch of an endowment fund designed to enable the Church to walk personally with adults with intellectual disabilities has been applauded by Archbishop Barry Hickey.
Personal Advocacy Service (PAS), an archdiocesan agency founded by Sr Eileen Casey RSM in 1989 in response to requests from parents who were seeking ways to enrich the personal and spiritual lives of their sons and daughters with intellectual disabilities, launched its fund on 15 November.
Archbishop Hickey said at the launch that it was the duty of everyone to reach out to those who were less privileged and often living on the fringes of the comunity.
The aim of the fund is to provide, through investment income, a guaranteed source of ongoing funding. The archbishop said that, by being less reliant on outside funding sources, the agency to would be able to better plan for the furure.
Today there are 140 volunteers, known as advocates, supporting 108 people with disabilities, known as friends, through 18 parish-based support groups.
A short video presentation on Terry and his advocate Gus provided those at the launch with an insight into the unique and personal relationships that had developed within PAS’s programme.
PAS hopes to raise $2 million over the next three years so that interest on the capital can be used to fund both current operations and future expansion.
Anyone interested in contributing to the advocacy services’ work or in donating to the endowment fund can contact the agency on (08) 9275 5388.