I recently visited a fantastic organisation in our area, and I’d like to share a little bit about them.
Warrah Disability Services is located in Dural, and it is a fantastic not-for-profit service which is dedicated to performing particular services for people with disability. Importantly, Warrah is providing opportunities for people where they may not previously have had the chance to participate fully as a member of our community.
Their work began back in the sixties, with Warrah operating as a special school by day and a group home by night, but times have changed.
Nowadays, Warrah offers supported independent living for adults across 13 homes with 24/7 care, community support services and in-home support. Along with that, Warrah is the only Steiner specialist school operating in Australia, providing K to12 education with 31 students currently enrolled.
Warrah also operates a biodynamic farm and operates an organic farm shop which I had the chance to learn more about on my visit. More recently, Warrah has assisted with the creation of microenterprises, including candles made by Rohan, who is a regular participator at the Dural Men’s Shed. Ben and Jim have also started mowing lawns with the assistance of the team at Warrah.
When I visited Warrah recently, I caught up with the CEO Delia Gray, school principal Anna Wetzel, farm manager Steve Tennikoff and property manager David Sharkie and I really learned a lot so I’m grateful for the time they spent talking with me. I also met students, Talara, Harry, Max and Jasmin and saw the positive impact that Warrah’s programs are having.
Along with the staff, we talked about the organisation’s history, the fantastic work that Warrah is doing right now and about their plans for the future which will provide even more opportunities for people living with a disability, but also involve more members of our broader community outside of Warrah’s participants and students.
The way they want to achieve this is by developing a small farm animal management practice which would be open to the public while teaching participants about animal husbandry and have a positive impact on our environment – I think it sounds great and already know my children would love the chance to visit.
I’m excited about Warrah’s plans to expand, open new learning opportunities and bring our community along the journey. Right now, I’m working on a plan to support them as they grow and continue to support people in our community to lead an engaging and fulfilling life and I know our community will be backing them too.
