Lived Experience Forum

[Mnemonic]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, I did a search and found nothing, but "A Safe Haven has been set up in Wollongong to give those experiencing suicidal distress a place to seek refuge and support."

The drop-in centre opened on May 26th and is apparently staffed by trained peer workers who have lived experience of suicidality.

This is the press release image of the place:

What it doesn't show is that on the other side of the building is a very steep driveway. I have been to the place but not gone in as yet. The most obvious problem is that it leaves out a very large section of the community as there is no disabled access.

No wheelchair access, a person with a walker could not access it and even me on a bad day with my walking stick could not make it up those stairs.

Then there is the issue of the restrictive opening hours. I don't know about anybody else but my issues are not confined to Wednesday to Saturday between 2:00pm and 10:00pm.

With the local ED not being an option for an ever increasing number of us due to reasons I probably shouldn't go into here this Safe Haven is desperately needed but it is also desperately left wanting due to it's hours of operation and the accessability issues.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Needs to do better.

[Gwynn]

Unfortunately the safe haven being inaccessible is a side effect of Australian housing in general being inaccessible. Try ringing them up and explaining that you find the house difficult to access due to your disability. They might be able to meet you out in the community somewhere more accessible.

[Mnemonic]

Hi Gwynn,

You don't think that defeats the purpose of the safe have?

Here's a link to the article on the ABC news website - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-18/wollongong-opens-safe-haven-suicide-prevention-centre/1001468...

I want a safe place to go, friends and others need a safe place to go. We don't want to be met in the community and we won't use the regular mental health services as they are not safe for us, or anyone with complex needs.

Additionally I do not believe it is "a side effect of Australian housing in general being inaccessible" as this is a building that was purchased and renovated. They could have easlity purchased a property that was accessable or done the necessary, as in required by law, modifications to make it accessable to all. Public money was used for this.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District funding is for ALL people. Not just the physically able.

Yes, I'm on a bit of a rant over this as I have a good friend now in a wheelchair that would use this if they were able to get into it.

[Gwynn]

My point is that as the whole of the Australian housing stock is inaccessible (less than 5% meets disability standards - https://www.smh.com.au/national/an-accessible-home-opens-the-door-to-health-happiness-and-work-20210... ), it would be very difficult to purchase an accessible house. A knockdown-rebuild to make this house accessible would likely have been beyond the publicly funded budget for this project. It does suck, though. Have you considered writing to your local MP about it?

[Ripples]

Dear @Mnemonic, Hi! I hope you are well this weekend, and if not, I hope the sun shines in on you in the next few days. I am contacting you because, after years helping people with mental health trauma, last year I came up with a workable model for community based trauma recovery centre. I approached the state government for funding. I got no reply, of course, but my local MP forwarded my plan to the federal minister for national trauma recovery, Greg Hunt, who liked it, and agreed to build three trauma recovery centres between Helensburgh and Eden. Unfortunately, I suffered a total mental breakdown last year, and have had to put everything on the back burner. Soon, a community campaign will begin to advertise the concept. Look out for it.

I hope I haven't bored you with this reply. Some of Australia's top psychiatrists and psychologists like my model and are keen to support it because it takes people like you and me into account.

Tell me what you think about my idea. I'd love to hear from you.