Chapters
Building natural supports in your community
Introduction
While a change in your living situation can bring a risk of isolation, natural supports play a key role in helping you to remain connected to the areas of your life that are most important to you.
Gathering your supporters (Stage 1, Chapter 1) described how everyone has a mix of natural supports and paid supports in their lives. Building natural supports in your community by doing everyday things, in everyday places, with everyday people is an important part of growing your interdependence with your community.
Natural supports during times of change
Natural supports will exist in your life to many different degrees; however, there are two important groups to think about when you’re planning a significant life change.
The first are the people who will connect you to your community; they could be neighbours, friends, or members of community groups you are part of (like church or art class). It is important that you think about who these people are so you can make plans to stay engaged in meaningful ways, particularly when they are from outside of your home.
The second group are those with whom you have a stronger, in-depth relationship. While they may also be someone who connects you to your community, these people are the ones who can help you with decision-making and future planning; they understand who you are, your values and what you’re trying to achieve. It could be that these people are already on your support team, helping you make this move happen.
Note: If either of these groups of people feels too small, then planning to bring other people into your network is important. Remember that relationships do not develop overnight, it takes time to build trust and connection. Starting to build these connections early is helpful.
Establishing boundaries between natural & paid supports
The line between natural support and paid support can, at times, become blurry.
To avoid confusion, it can be helpful to find some clear boundaries for where paid support begins and ends, so that if someone provides both paid support and freely offered natural support there is no room for misinterpretation.
This is particularly important if you have flatmates, boarders or support workers who have been chosen specifically because they have the skills to help you and would naturally be a part of the community you are a part of, or if understanding boundaries is something you struggle with.
There is no one way to manage these situations, but the best results always come from having a clear conversation so that you know you are both ‘on the same page’. Writing things down is very helpful too.
Where to start
Map your natural supports
A useful place to start is to map the natural supports that currently exist in your life and the role that they play. This can help to:
- create a picture of how many people are in your world
- identify where you want someone to step in to support you more
Next steps
- Read through the example scenarios below
- Use the worksheet below to create your own map of your natural supports.
Scenarios
Ahmed
Ahmed loves gardening. Each week, he goes to his local community garden with his flatmate, Ali, who is also his paid support for community connections. At first they just did their own thing and looked for plants that Ahmed was familiar with and tended those. Now Ahmed is participating in the group sessions where everyone works on the same garden bed at the same time, and Frank, the co-ordinator, teaches about the seasonal plants.
Frank found out that Ahmed lives on the same street as he does so he has offered to pick Ahmed up next week. This means that Ahmed can now use his paid support with Ali to do something else in his ‘good life’ plan.
Karen
Karen has been going to the local library all her life. She used to go with her mother every week before her mother moved into a rest home. Now Karen goes with her paid support. The librarians know Karen’s name but Karen did not know theirs as she could not read their name badges and had never been properly introduced. Karen’s paid support is mentoring her to build a stronger relationship with the librarians, so she now greets each librarian by name when she arrives. The library has adult literacy classes once a week and Karen has changed her library day so she can participate in those classes. She has her own library card now too.
Mark
Mark moved into a residential group home with four other men. He likes to walk and each day he walks around the block. His new neighbours, a retired couple who are new to the community also, asked if he would like to go to exercise classes at a local church hall. Mark goes to classes each Tuesday and now has the role of helping set up and pack up the hall with his neighbours.
Worksheets
Map your natural supports
Use this worksheet to build a map of the natural supports you currently have, the role they play in your life and identify any areas where you would like to build new relationships.
