Having a support team enables me to live my life to the fullest. Independent Support Workers assist me with the tasks I find really difficult so that I can focus on my strengths and abilities and have the energy to study, work and participate in the community. 

How I built my support team on Mable

I’ve been a Mable client for over two years. During that time, I’ve booked many independent support workers on Mable. Some have been a core part of my team and others have stepped in at short notice, often when I’ve utilised the very helpful Mable Last Minute function, when something urgent and unexpected happened and I needed support. You can read more about my method for booking support workers in my article How to find and book a new support worker — tricks and tips.

How my team supports me

Apart from booking a cleaner and gardener on Mable to assist with daily activities, my support workers for social, community and civic participation assist me with my self-employment goals, helping me build my business with a variety of tasks such as administration, branding, marketing and attending networking events. 

As clients, we have the choice and control to build a great support team, with an array of skills and talents, according to our individual goals. 

One of my main goals is to increase my self-employment opportunities and I’ve been thrilled to find support workers on Mable who are keen and dedicated to assisting me in reaching my goals. 

Without my support team, I wouldn’t have published my last book and the two previous issues of my magazine. Booking support workers on Mable has been an absolute game changer for my life and work. 

My support worker success stories 

I booked a support worker to attend a community event so that I could network with my colleagues who I hadn’t seen in over a year. The support worker was sensitive to the fact that I wanted to be mostly independent at the event, and stood back respectfully while I engaged with my friends and colleagues. This support worker was experienced in empowering people with disability, understood my desire for independence, and didn’t need any training on this issue. She just knew what to do in the moment and was there for me, if I needed her.

On another occasion, I needed assistance to go shopping and put out a ‘last minute job’ request using the Mable app. A local support worker replied and took me to run my errands without fuss and simply said if I ever needed her again, she was there for me. 

My main support worker, who works with me on my business goals, assisted me in learning more about graphic design and worked with me on my publishing projects. She also attended a major festival where I was delivering a presentation, to provide support. 

It’s not just the assistance with practical tasks, but it is also the emotional support and encouragement offered by my support workers that I value and appreciate very much. It really has made a positive difference in my life. 

Self-employment, social participation and more: achieving my goals through Mable

A few quick tips for building your support team:

• Firstly, dream big There are immensely talented and sincere support workers on Mable who will have your back and will be cheering for you all the way, as you work on your goals 
• Start by getting as clear as possible on your goals and who you might need to assist you with achieving them 
• Don’t be afraid to be creative and think outside the box. It’s one of my favourite activities to engage in. Moments of creative thinking can be total gamechangers. I also engage in this process with my Mable clients as my role as a peer mentor. (In addition to booking support workers on Mable, I’m also an independent support (peer) worker on Mable)
• Use the search function if you’re looking for someone with particular skills or interests such as photography or an animal lover. (Once you’ve done the initial suburb search, you can do a more refined search once the results have been displayed)
• Do read reviews for more information about the support worker and how they relate to their clients.
• Utilise the free Meet and Greet that many support workers offer on Mable, to get to know someone first before booking your first support session with them
• Always remember you are in control of who you engage to work for you and it may take a while before you have found the members of your core support team
• Enjoy the process.

The support team I book using Mable enables me to access the community for events and social outings, support my self-employment goals and has been a wonderful overall support for my emotional wellbeing.