Lili & Margaret

“As a family we weren’t coping. Lili needed around-the-clock care and we eventually couldn’t provide her with the routine and stability she needed,” her mother Margaret told Evolve Housing.

“It was a painful decision to make because it felt like abandoning your child, but we knew it was the right thing to do.”

Along with two other families, Margaret fought tooth and nail to secure “Rosevilla”, a home in Sydney’s upper north shore suburb of Roseville for Lili and two other women. Although it required a lot of repairs and maintenance, Margaret hoped it could become a home for Lili.

“The property was in a poor state—dirty, mould everywhere, the lights were busted, our ceiling was falling in, and the garden was overgrown.”

Margaret and the other parents banded together to fix the home but also sought Evolve Housing’s assistance after not receiving the quality and transparency their daughters deserved from the previous provider.

“Evolve Housing has been very responsive, in particular Errin who has come in and understood the needs of our girls. Errin dug in deeper to get the bigger and harder problems fixed, like our driveway which had so many potholes. He worked with Council to get it fixed. Errin goes above and beyond and represents what Evolve Housing is about beautifully.”

It wasn’t the life Margaret expected for her daughter, but things took a turn when Lili was just eight weeks old and contracted meningitis, an infection of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, caused by bacteria or viruses.

“Lili wasn’t meant to survive. She was on life support for well over a week, but she decided to stick around and we’re all grateful that she did. Lili is an incredible young woman, she’s incredibly brave and does her best,” Margaret said.

Margaret credits Evolve Housing for the constant support that Lili and her housemates receive, stressing that it’s important for Lili to be in a supportive community, surrounded by a network of family, friends and professionals who help her with her everyday life.

“Now that Lili’s life is so predictable, her world is making sense to her. Her life at the age of 25 is blooming. I stopped being her carer and started being her mother. Lili comes to us weekly, and we have lunch and spend time together. When she tells me she wants to go home to Rosevilla to see her housemates, it fills my soul. Rosevilla is her home. It’s where she is comfortable, and the women have made it their own. Lili is safe and very loved, and a lot of that has to do with the delivery of quality bricks and mortar. All the taps work, the shower works, the lights turn on—all these things play a role in her quality of life and happiness.

“I always think of Lili being in the middle of a circle where the first ring is her family, then people who support her. I am happy for her.”

Margaret calls for more support and services for people living with disabilities, saying it’s their right to live independently. “People with disabilities have a right to live as independently as possible, and if that means living alone with support funded by NDIS, then why not,” she said.

“Having your own identity and choice and control over the life you choose to live is the springboard to living your best life.”