Despite a number of delays, Albany Creek’s Youngcare rehabilitation homes didn’t let anything stand in the way of its Opening Day on 16th of May. The new facility is located at 1 Leitchs Road. Built through a partnership with MS Queensland, an organisation providing support to people living with multiple sclerosis, the newly constructed Youngcare units will be the home of eight young people with mid- to high-care needs. During Opening Day, visitors enjoyed breakfast together and were given a sneak peek of the new facility.
Youngcare is a non-profit organisation established in 2005 to provide personal support, health care, and accommodation to young people with high care needs and teach them how to be independent while living in these facilities.
Homes in Albany Creek
The Youngcare construction was first proposed in November 2014, but began in 2016 after planning and discussions between Youngcare, MS Queensland, and the government concluded.
The State Government provided the lot at Leitchs Road. The initial plan was to construct eight apartments, plus three open-market units for rentals to cover for maintenance costs of the accommodation. The two-bedroom apartments were designed for the residents to feel free in accepting their own guests. To help them be independent while living in the apartments, each unit is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including lighting, automated doors, entertainment systems, beds, and fingertip-controlled blinds.
(Photo credit: Albany Creek SS/Twitter)
Helping people with high care needs included more than just fixing their accommodations. State MP for Everton and former NRL Referee, Tim Mander, led a group of walkers, from volunteers to prominent figures, on a fundraising walk during Youngcare’s opening day. The walk started at the Youngcare facility and went through three different schools, including Albany Creek State School, garnering funds to help the Youngcare Albany Creek purchase a motor vehicle for its residents.
The Youngcare Story
(Photo credit: www.youngcare.com)
The birth of Youngcare was inspired by the touching story of Shevaune Conry, a multiple sclerosis patient. Shevaune was terminally ill at age 33, and needed special care which was not attainable by just staying at home.
Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable disease that attacks the central nervous system, brain, spinal cord, and nerve cells, resulting to impaired speech and vision, walking difficulties, muscle stiffness and numbness, and brain activity problems.
(Photo credit: Jake Myers15/Wikimedia Commons)
Shevaune and her husband David couldn’t find a place that could accommodate Shevaune’s needs. They tried an aged care facility, but she did not receive the proper care. David, seeing his wife in this situation, established Youngcare together with his colleagues — Matthew Lawson, Nick Bonifant, and Simon Lockyer, with a common goal to create a “bright future” and provide extensive care to Shevaune and other Aussies with similar conditions.
(Photo credit: www.youngcare.com)
Youngcare Wesley Mission Brisbane Apartments, the first Youngcare facility at Brisbane’s Sinnamon Park, was soon constructed. Shevaune became its very first resident. When David and Shevaune shared their story in a television documentary, support came pouring in, and patients who needed the same care as Shevaune applied for a place to stay. Since then, Youngcare has continuously expanded in Brisbane and now to Albany Creek.
Shevaune passed away in 2012, at 40 years old. Her legacy and her story lives on, not just in David’s heart, but through the various Youngcare programs that now brings extensive care to young people with conditions that have high care needs.
Youngcare’s doors for support and donations are always open to give a better life for young people battling chronic illness that require a high level of care. For more info on the programs and how to donate, please check their website.