Gathering your supporters

Introduction

The process of planning and stepping into a new living situation can be a long journey made up of many small steps. It is not an easy undertaking, so it is important to have people you can rely on for help and support along the way.

In Moving Out, this is called your ‘support team’. This refers specifically to the core group of people that you invite to help you on this journey.

The first step in preparing for change is to gather these supporters. A good place to start is to consider who is in your world that you would want to act as your advisor, advocate or actioner on the journey ahead.

• An advisor – someone who can help you with decision-making, explain information, and provide different perspectives, support and accountability

• An advocate – someone who can speak to agencies alongside you or on your behalf to represent you in matters where you do not feel comfortable representing yourself

• An actioner – someone who can make things happen; this could include gathering information, taking responsibility for administration or making sure plans are actioned  

These are important roles, so it is worth taking time to decide on what support you need, who these people could be, and whether you need to work (at your pace) at bringing more people into your support team to act in this capacity.

The focus of this first chapter is to help you identify the people who can be a part of your support team and the roles that you would like them to fulfil. Through this process, you may also identify areas where it could be useful to grow your support networks in preparation for the journey ahead.  

Roles of a support team

You may find that some people help you with a wide range of areas in your life and others provide support on only one or two defined topics. Understanding the role each person plays and the skills that they bring can help you get the best out of the people on your support team.  

While every person’s support team will function differently, common ways they might help include:

• practical help

• emotional support

• advocacy

• understanding information

• helping you stick to your plans and goals

• supporting you with decision-making

• talking with people or services on your behalf

• helping you with your finances

• supporting you with health and medical needs

• managing risks.

Building your support team

Your support team are more than the people who help you in your general day-to-day life. They are a gathering of your closest allies – the ones who have a deep understanding of who you are and the life you want to build.  

While it may be that members of this core group also support you day-to-day, their role in your support team is specifically about how they can help you move towards achieving your big goals.  

There is no one-size-fits-all; building your support team is about you working out what is going to be most helpful for you as you navigate the journey ahead. If you are unsure what would work best for your situation, it may be worth considering:

• Who are your current supporters? Who has helped you in the past?  
  You may have one, two or multiple people. They are probably some of the people you have already spoken to about planning a change in your living situation.  
  

• How many people do you want on your team?  
  For some people a support team only includes immediate family or closest friends; for others they can be an extended group of 10 or 20 people.  
  

• Do you want to include different relationships or histories?
  Your supporters may be people you have known for a long time or who you have met more recently. The length of your relationship is less important than your supporter’s ability to understand and prioritise your values and goals.  

• What skills would be useful to have on your support team?
  Building your support team is a valuable opportunity to gather skills that will help on the journey ahead. Consider the roles of the support team listed above when thinking of who to bring on to your team.  
  

• How do you want to work together?
  Your team may be a group of people who come together regularly to talk about this transition in your life, or they might be the people you turn to one-to-one for help when you need it. Some might be involved at each step in your plan; others you might only want to help you on certain topics or at certain times.
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  It is important to be clear with people about what kind of help you want from them, so that they provide the level of input that you are comfortable with.

Finding the right people

Your support team are there to help you when you are making big life decisions so it is important to gather people who can add value to discussions and offer a perspective that may, at times, be challenging.  

When gathering your supporters, ask yourself:

• Whose opinion do I value?

• Who can sometimes see the things that I don’t notice?

• Who can tell me the truth in a way that I respect?

• Who explains things to me in a way that I understand?

• Who has a deep understanding of my long-term goals?

• Whose help will I need to maintain any big decisions?

Non-negotiables for your support team

While the size and structure of your support team are up to you, the single most influential factor in achieving successful outcomes is having a support team that:

• understand who you are

• understand your values

• know what you are trying to achieve

• are motivated in helping you achieve your goals.

Paid supports, in your support team

If you are looking at the people currently in your life and feeling that you don’t have the support you would like in your support team, one consideration could be to use paid supports in this capacity. This could also be useful if your support team are small in number and you want to relieve pressure on your main supporter(s).

In the context of your support team, paid supports could be:

• a support worker who understands what is important to you and is helping you to action your plans on a daily basis  

• support that is built into a service that you receive (e.g. a goal-planning process, or the manager of a disability service you use)

• a specialised professional who you hire directly (e.g. an advocate, goal-planner or someone helping you navigate the system). *

*This kind of paid support is often not a funded part of Disability Support Services. However, if you have a flexible type of funding (e.g. Individualised Funding or Living My Life) you may be able to cover the costs of a specialist support service, such as that provided by Flying Kites.

Natural supports, in your support team

If your support team are predominantly made up of paid supports, it may be worth considering how you can build the roll of natural supports in this core group.

Natural supports are the people who freely give their time to help you. Most people have natural supports involved to different degrees throughout their life, from closest friends or family to neighbours and other members of the community.  

Often, the unpaid supports that you bring on to your support team will be the people who have the biggest influence on the quality of your life. They will be the people who have a genuine interest in understanding who you are, your values and what you’re trying to achieve and will be motivated to help you achieve your goals.

If growing your natural supports is important for you, ‍Building natural supports in your community (Stage 2, Chapter 9) covers this in greater detail.

Note: This chapter is focused on the roles of paid and natural supports in the context of your core support team. Planning your supports (Stage 2, Chapter 4) will guide you through a wider assessment of your paid and natural supports when it comes to preparing for your new living situation.  

A support team for the long term

When gathering your supporters it can be helpful to consider the long-term support that you have and will need.  

While you may be getting a lot of your help from your parents or older supporters currently, as time goes on and everyone gets older it is good to have some people your own age in your support team to be alongside you as you age.

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Where to start

Build your support team

The first step in building your support team is to reflect on the people you have in your life and the support that you need from this core group.  

Gathering the right people, from the outset, will be a significant advantage as you navigate the many decisions, tasks and changes that come with transitioning to a new living situation. The examples below outline a few different ways to approach building your support team.  

Create your own skills/strengths/needs profile

As you work through the upcoming chapters you will be asked to consider the specifics of your situation and apply suggested frameworks to your planning. Creating a profile of your skills, strengths and support needs will help you keep a clear picture of what you need to plan for.

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Next steps

1. Read through the example scenarios below.

2. Use the ‘Build your support team’ worksheet to map out the ways that you want your support team to help you and the people you want to be on the team.

3. Use the ‘Skills, strengths and needs’ worksheet to build your own customised profile that you can use to guide your thinking throughout this process.