SSI celebrates International Day of People with Disability

Settlement Services International (SSI), has today celebrated the International Day of People with Disability (3 December 2021) by hosting an event for some of its 16,000+ clients and staff. The International Day of People with Disability aims to raise awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability.

The event also saw awarded a highly successful participant of three SSI disability programs, Lin Zhen Hua, with an Outstanding Achievement Award for his determination and commitment to actively contribute to his community and support Chinese-speaking people with disabilities.

SSI, CEO, Violet Roumeliotis congratulated the program participants and the Disability services team for the great results achieved during a tumultuous two years.

“People with disabilities can and do achieve great things when they have access to information and proper support.

“Our clients are proof of that with some running their own businesses, running marathons and being champions of their community.

“Our Disability Services team work tirelessly to support our clients in any way they need to ensure they are set up for success.

“The pandemic saw us conquer additional challenges, but the team adapted in creative ways, by completing welfare checks via the phone, through to creating six videos in different languages to ensure our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) participants could access the latest COVID-19 information,” said Ms Roumeliotis.

Public Speaker and Advocate, Kylie Scott, was thrilled to be the keynote speaker at the event sharing her experience as an IngniteAbility entrepreneur.

“Being part of the IngniteAbility program has allowed me to become more business savvy and build my confidence to stand up for what I believe in. I have a dream that people with disability will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their disability, but by their ability.”

In July 2020, SSI were selected by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to deliver from line Local Area Coordinator services to people living with Disability in two Sydney districts.

It has since achieved some great results including:

• Running over 180 LAC-led engagements, 70 of which were focused on CALD communities and 22 focused on Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• Attending and contributing to over 500 external or NDIA run engagements
• 338 active participants in its Disability Employment Services
• Providing NDIS information sessions in 20 languages
• Establishing a Multilingual Intake Line in July 2021 with calls taking place in 12 different languages so far

SSI has supported people with disability, their families and carers through a number of community-based initiatives including Ability Links, IngniteAbility Small Business Start-ups, Disability Employment Services, The Multicultural Peer Network and Local Area Coordinator (LAC).

Find out more about the services offered by SSI here: https://dev.ssi.org.au/

Media enquiries:

Zadro:

Felicity Zadro

E: felicity@zadroagency.com.au

M: 0404 009 384

Oakley Grioli

E: oakley@zadroagency.com.au

M: 0434 295 302