Tag: community

Local business giving back to local community

Myhorizon was grateful to receive over $2000 donated recently from the generous team at Downtown Toyota.

As Myhorizon’s fleet vehicle partner, the Downtown Toyota team have given back by donating a portion of their recent sales to Myhorizon.

“We are always so grateful to organisations who contribute to the work we do at Myhorizon, and support our mission of uplifting individual lives by creating connected communities”. Said Joe.

The team from Downtown Toyota presented Myhorizon’s CEO, Joe Gamblin, with a cheque for the funds they raised over the past six months which will go towards Myhorizon’s various services and events. Some of the funding will also be used towards merchandise and supplies for Myhorizon’s upcoming RUOK Day community event.

“We want to help raise awareness of the important issue of suicide prevention, and encourage everyone in our local community to come along to our Giant Morning Tea on 12th September.” Said Joe.

“It’s a great way to raise money for a worthy cause, but also connect with people in the community and show support. A big thank you to Downtown Toyota for helping us make this event possible”.

For more details of their RUOK event, go to www.bit.ly/MHRUOK

 

 

 

Giant morning tea to promote positive mental health

Taking the time to ask someone if they are OK can make all the difference, and that’s why the team at Myhorizon and The Bush Pantry Cafe will be hosting a Giant Morning Tea fundraiser for RUOK Day on Thursday 12th September.

The event organized by Myhorizon CEO, Joe Gamblin is all about inspiring everyone to ask that simple but important question “Are you OK?” and start a conversation that could change a life.

“Our reason for hosting this event is a personal one, where we tragically lost one of our staff members to suicide one year ago. We want to help raise awareness of the important issue of suicide prevention, and encourage everyone in our local community to connect with the people around them and support anyone struggling”. Says Joe.

Myhorizon are passionate about helping people to feel supported and connected in the community, and invite all members of the Redlands community and beyond to come along for this special event.

“Come down to our Bush Pantry Café, dress in yellow and enjoy a morning tea, giveaways, and a good old friendly chat.” Says Joe.

“We are asking for gold coin donations and we’ll also donate our café profits on the day to this worthy cause.”

Myhorizon’s RUOK Day – 12th September 10am, 1-15A Runnymede Rd, Capalaba.

To RSVP to this event, go to www.bit.ly/MHRUOK

Pets galore at The Bush Pantry Cafe

Myhorizon, is calling all animal lovers and their pets to their Bush Pantry café at Capalaba on Monday 20 August to help raise funds for RSPCA’s Cupcake Day.

They will be baking loads of cupcakes to support the work of the RSPCA and are inviting the whole community to bring along their beloved pet pooches or pussy cats to their pet-friendly café for this worthy cause.

Myhorizon CEO, Joe Gamblin is excited to host such an event, “We’re very proud to be supporting RSPCA’s Cupcake Day, and we invite the whole community to come down with their pets. We have the perfect pet friendly venue with a large outdoor café area which we would love to see filled with people’s pet dogs (or cats) on the day all for a worthy cause” says Joe.

“We’re huge animal lovers and know that a lot of our customers are as well. It means a lot to be able to help vulnerable animals across Australia.”

All the money raised from their special cupcakes will go directly towards helping the abandoned, neglected and surrendered animals around the country that turn to the RSPCA looking for love, safe shelter and a helping hand.

Join the event on Monday 20th August at the Bush Pantry Café, at Myhorizon Centre, 1-15A Runnymede Rd, Capalaba anytime between 10am and 2pm for some sweet treats, and help fight animal cruelty.

Can’t make it down to our Cafe? No problem, you can also donate whatever you can by visiting our supporter page. Go to www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au and click on ‘Find a Friend’ and search for ‘Myhorizon’.

For more information, telephone 3824 7007 or email bushpantry@myhorizon.org.au

Traditional crafts supporting kids with disability

Traditional crafts from Rita’s cart at Myhorizon Capalaba are still proving a popular retail item with locals these days, and are funding new resources for kids with disability.

Rita Morris, a long-standing member of Myhorizon, still contributes her time and energy into the not-for-profit organisation where she has set up her own cart at the Community Centre on Runnymede Rd selling her crafty wares all for a good cause.

Rita has raised nearly $2000 just from her craft cart alone which was able to fund a new early childhood motor development program now used by Occupational Therapists at Myhorizon’s Ian McDougall Centre. The new tool allows therapists to provide both an in-depth assessment and training of gross and fine motor skills for children from birth to 5 years of age.

“This new resource not only gives our assessments more credibility for families to receive their NDIS funding, but also allows our therapy team a more consistent way of measuring a child’s developmental milestones and identifying the additional support and skills they may need”, says Ruby Ryan, an Occupational Therapist at Myhorizon.

Rita generously donates all her craft’s profits back to the Myhorizon’s Early Intervention programs to help kids with disability access important programs and resources, giving them more learning opportunities and supports they need to reach their potential.

“In the early days, there weren’t any programs around to support kids with a disability, but now there is more opportunity for children with a disability to get the support they need from services and programs like the ones offered by Myhorizon’s Early Intervention team” says Rita.

Rita speaks gratefully about Myhorizon for the support they have given her son Christopher over the years who has a disability, and wanted to return some of the support and generosity through fundraising from her crafts, kindly donated by herself and other members of the Redlands community.

“I’ll never be able to pay back Myhorizon for what they have done for Christopher over the years. This is my small way to give something back to the organisation”, says Rita.

You can find Rita’s Cart at Myhorizon Community Centre, Runnymede Rd, Capalaba, at the entrance to The Bush Pantry Café, where you can browse her selection of handmade items, novelties, and children’s clothing, open 8.30am till 2pm Monday to Friday. For more information on Myhorizon’s Early Intervention services, click here.

Myhorizon Wins Australia Day Award

The annual Redland City Australia Day Awards were held last night (Tuesday 23rd January 2018) at Alexandra Hills Hotel where Myhorizon were honoured as winners of the ‘Community Organisation Award’.

Each year Redland City Council recognises residents and community organisations through these awards where they acknowledge members and organisations in our community who have made outstanding contributions to promote the welfare and wellbeing in the Redlands.

Myhorizon has been part of the Redlands Community since 1981 and today supports more than 2000 people with a disability, with a passionate and dedicated team of over 240 staff.

The prestigious award was graciously accepted by Myhorizon CEO, Joe Gamblin on behalf of the entire organisation.

“This award is a wonderful recognition of the leadership at Myhorizon over many years and the contribution made by all the staff. It is great for the organisation to be recognised in this way and it is a strong reflection of goodwill and acceptance of people with disability within the Redlands community.” said Joe.

Myhorizon sincerely thanks the Redlands community and all who took the time to nominate the organisation for these awards, and congratulate all the other worthy nominees and winners on the night.

(Photo: Myhorizon CEO, Joe Gamblin, and Redland City Mayor, Karen Williams)

Generous Contributions to Early Intervention

The humble story of how Myhorizon first began is an inspirational one, where a group of dedicated parents were united by a common purpose – creating a better life for people with disability through education, employment, and community connection opportunities.

One of those dedicated founding parents was Rita Morris who says that back in 1981, there weren’t any local groups in the Redlands who could provide the support and opportunities that she wanted for her son Christopher, and so decided that together with like-minded parents would create their own organisation.

Rita speaks gratefully about Myhorizon for the support they have given her son Christopher over the years and wanted to return some of the support and generosity. So earlier this year, the idea of ‘Rita’s cart’ was born. Having a space at the new Myhorizon Community Centre at Capalaba where Rita could sell her goods to patrons of the Bush Café, staff, and general public visiting the centre, meant that she could donate her profits back to the organisation, specifically to the Early Intervention programs offered at Myhorizon.

“I’ll never be able to pay back Myhorizon for what they have done for Christopher over the years. This is my small way to give something back to the organisation” said Rita.

The design and construction of Rita’s Cart was kindly built by the wonderful members of Alexandra Hills Men’s Shed, who donated their time and materials to build Rita a custom made cart to sell her treasures. When approached to take on this project, long-time Men’s Shed member Damian Malone, was more than happy to contribute with the help of his fellow members, as he had a personal connection to Myhorizon.

“I decided to take on this project at Myhorizon because they previously provided my son and my family with a lot of support and information we needed through their Baby Bridges program. We wanted to do something to give back.”

Myhorizon presented Alexandra Hills Men’s Shed with a certificate of appreciation recently for their kind contribution to the construction of the cart which they completed in June 2017. Since opening the cart, Rita has sold many handmade pieces and novelties and already raised $1000 to donate back to Myhorizon.

Rita’s generous ongoing donations to Myhorizon’s Early Intervention Service contributes to important programs for children with development delay or disability, giving them more learning opportunities and supports they need to reach their potential.

“In the early days, there weren’t any programs around to support kids who had a disability, but now with more funding and help available, there is more opportunity for children with a disability to get the support they need from programs like the ones offered by the Early Intervention team at Myhorizon” said Rita.

You can find Rita’s Cart at Myhorizon Community Centre, Runnymede Rd, Capalaba, where you can browse her selection of handmade items, novelties, and children’s clothing, open 8.30am till 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

(Photo: Alexandra Hills Men’s Shed members Damien Malone, Les Burrell, and Michael Gleeson accepting their Certificate of Appreciation from Myhorizon; and Manager of ‘Rita’s Cart’ – Rita Morris)

Myhorizon announces Wayne Clarke as its new Chair

Local disability services provider, Myhorizon, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Wayne Clarke as the new Chair of its Board of Directors.

Dr Clarke joined the Board in March 2012 and has held the position of Vice President over the last 2 years, and recently succeeded Louise Dudley as President and Chairman.

Victoria Knight, HBE employee at Myhorizon, and Dr Wayne Clarke, newly appointed President and Chair of the Board.

Spending much of his early career as a Speech therapist, Dr Clarke has worked with people with disability for many years and completing a PhD in the speech of cerebral palsy children has given him a strong understanding of working with people with disability. Dr Clarke has also worked for a number of non-profit organisations in executive roles, more recently for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, and Mental Illness Fellowship of Qld through which he has gained a strong sense of the importance of community values.

 “My view of disability and the role of organisations like Myhorizon is to try and prevent the disabling aspects of disability so that people can grow and lead a positive life and look for education, employment and other services.

“The wider community may not be aware just how many people there are with disability. We need to try to bring them out to be active members of our community and promote a general acceptance by everybody. They all need support in one way or another and as a community I believe we all have a responsibility to support them.” Said Dr Clarke.

It’s a timely message leading up to International Day of People with Disability, celebrated on 3 December. This is a United Nations sanctioned day that promotes inclusivity and celebrates the achievements and contributions of people with disability. It is an opportunity for our community to make positive changes to the lives of 4.3 million Australians living with disability.

A strong example of this year’s theme of empowering people with disability, is the collaboration and job ownership displayed by the HBE team at Myhorizon. Victoria Knight (pictured with Dr Wayne Clarke) is one of many employees who says she enjoys working at Myhorizon because she likes to come and get her jobs done and be with her friends. Myhorizon’s HBE employees work on a variety of mailing and packaging contracts for well-known businesses in the local area such as Sirromet Winery, as well as other businesses requiring similar services.

In addition to the mailing and packaging services offered by Myhorizon at their newly built Centre on Runnymede Road, Capalaba (next to Indigiscapes), they also provide a range of high quality services, all designed to support the ongoing needs of people with disability.

“The investment that has been made in Myhorizon’s new facilities and services is not just about preparing for the launch of NDIS next year, but also about having a modern facility that can be used by everyone in the community.

“You have members of the community coming in here, you’ve got people with disabilities helping in the café, and providing services back into the community. The fact that there is a facility that can provide you a good cup of coffee and you know in doing that you are supporting the community effort, really is important.” Said Dr Clarke.

 For more information on Myhorizon’s full range of services, click here.

Fulfilling a Community Vision

Myhorizon proudly celebrates the official Grand Opening of their brand new purpose-built facility in the heart of Redland City.

From L-R: Raymond Walker; CEO of Myhorizon Joe Gamblin; Redland Council Mayor Karen Williams, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, the Governor of Queensland; Vice President of Myhorizon Louise Dudley with the official plaque presented to Myhorizon Community Centre.

It has been a rewarding journey for Myhorizon to proudly fulfil a community vision after many years, with the opening of their state-of-the-art Community Centre. The event was held on Friday 20 October 2017 at Capalaba, where His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland, officially opened the impressive new facility. 

Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams also attended and spoke at the event, and was joined by approximately 200 attendees including local council representatives, government members, and Myhorizon clients and staff.

The multi-million dollar flagship centre on Runnymede Road, next to Indigiscapes, boasts a range of high quality services and purpose built facilities, all designed to support the ongoing needs of people with disabilities in the local community.

CEO of Myhorizon, Joe Gamblin thanked those in the community that supported and contributed to the magnificent community facility, including Redland City Council, Ian McDougall Trust and Redland Foundation.

“What we’ve created has made a real difference to the lives of hundreds of people with disabilities. It has been so rewarding to be able to build on the hard work of our founders and grow the organisation to where it is today, supporting thousands of clients across the state, with the help of so many wonderful people. This ceremony is a wonderful celebration of this rich history and the important work Myhorizon undertakes in the local and wider community” said Mr Gamblin.

Mayor Karen Williams also spoke to the values shared between Myhorizon and Redland City Council. “The Myhorizon community centre shows just what can be achieved when the community comes together, shares a common vision, and gets down and makes it happen. It’s an important, productive and valued community asset and is a true reflection of Myhorizon’s commitment to continuing its important work in the region and council’s support of such services” said Mayor Williams.

Myhorizon employs over 240 passionate staff members across 11 different centres (located from Wynnum through to Tweed Heads).  “Our amazing team actively works with 2000 people with disability, from the earliest stages of life through to adulthood” said Mr Gamblin.

Myhorizon’s specialty service areas include Support Coordination, Plan Management, Independent Living, Lifestyle services, Employment & Training and Social Enterprises, as well as Early Intervention services operating out of the new Ian McDougall Centre within the same new facility. This was named after the late Redlands philanthropist whose trust has supported a range of local causes. The Ian McDougall Trust made a $450,000 donation to the early Intervention Centre which is a fantastic place tailoring support to meet the needs of children with disability.

The new centre also doubles as an entertainment venue for public hire with modern event spaces and meeting rooms perfect for corporate meetings, community events, and weddings.  The centre’s new cafe The Bush Pantry is open to general public and offers great coffee, refreshments and light snacks, and takes advantage of the picturesque surroundings of Redlands’ Botanical Gardens.

To speak to the friendly staff at Myhorizon and learn how our services can support you, call us on 1300 MYHORIZON today.