No Better Time to Plan for a Good Life

Disabled people in the Lakes District are being offered a new way to plan and work towards a bright future, with the introduction of Local Area Coordination.

Local Area Coordinators (LACs) are independent guides who work with disabled people and their whānau to help them consider the life they want to lead and how to pursue it. They also support communities to be inclusive and accessible to disabled people from all walks of life.

ImagineBetter, which is based in Tauranga, is offering Local Area Coordination in the Lakes and Bay of Plenty regions. Its Local Area Coordination Manager Tony McLean says Local Area Coordination takes a much broader view than traditional disability support services.

“LACs don’t just work with disabled people and their whānau but involve neighbours, marae, businesses and others in making communities more welcoming for disabled people,” he says. “There really has never been a better time for disabled people to plan for a good life.”

Mary Barnett, who previously worked for Voice Advocacy, is the first LAC in the Lakes District. Tony says she is well known and much respected in the area and he is happily anticipating an influx of people wanting to work with her as an LAC.

Anyone can contact Mary for information and advice but people wanting to have longer term support will need to live in the Lakes region; require support in some parts of their lives because of a disability; and be younger than 65 years of age. You do not have to pay to work with a LAC.

Local Area Coordination was first demonstrated by the Ministry of Health in the Western Bay of Plenty (2011) and Eastern Bay of Plenty (2013). Local Area Coordination is also available in the Hutt Valley and Central Otago / Southland regions

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