Citizen Advocacy Perth West
aims to promote
the protection of, and
advocacy for,
people
with an intellectual disability
within
our geographical area
who are isolated,
vulnerable or
at risk.

Citizen Advocacy is a program which aims to recognise, promote and defend the rights and interests of people with intellectual disability.

It does so by finding and supporting ordinary, caring, responsible citizens who are prepared voluntarily to make a positive difference in the life of a person with an intellectual disability, who has no family and therefore may be vulnerable, be facing difficult challenges or be at risk.

The Citizen Advocacy Perth West office seeks out people with an intellectual disability living in institutions, hostels or in the community, who have no family and are therefore particularly at risk. We then carefully match them, one to one, with a principled, caring citizen, who freely commits to a long-term relationship, in which they undertake to act as friend and spokesperson or "Advocate" for the person with the disability, (who we call the "Protege" - from the French word meaning to protect.)

The two people are matched as closely as possible to be a perfect fit, in terms of personality, gender, age, interests and the needs of the person with the disability versus the ability of the Advocate to meet those needs. The Advocates are given training, ongoing support and access to various resources by the Citizen Advocacy office to help them in their roles and to ensure that the relationship is rewarding and beneficial to both Advocates and Proteges.

Each Citizen Advocacy relationship is unique. The Advocate may for example offer their Protege friendship, the experience of family, new opportunities, spokesmanship and protection from abuse.

The paid staff of Citizen Advocacy Perth West (Inc) consists of two co-ordinators, Janine and Dianne and one part time public relations person -- Rosalind.

We currently have 51Citizen Advocates matched in their relationships with their individual protege. However, this number increases constantly as we make new matches each year.

We have a pool of 10 Crisis Advocates who remain on standby for crises in the lives of Proteges who do not yet have Advocates; this "pool" is also constantly on the increase.

We also have a bank of 21 "Advocate Associates", who are experts in their field in such areas as housing, medicine, law, etc and who are willing to donate time and expertise to helping Advocates resolve problems they may encounter as they endeavour to support their Protege.

Seven volunteer board members manage and are responsible for the program. = top

The difference between
what we do

And

What we are capable
of doing

Would suffice

To solve
most of the worlds's problems.

 

--- Gandhi