Friends, housemates, and a bright future - how Claro matched Jill and Claire with their dream home.

A safe and comfortable home is something many of us enjoy, but it’s something that can never be taken for granted. When your home no longer provides for these fundamental needs, it can severely impact your health, wellbeing and happiness.

Claire and Jill found themselves in this very situation. The women both live with disability and were living together in Specialist Disability Accommodation which is where they met and became fast friends. But the place they called home had become somewhere they felt fearful and unsafe, due to a third resident of the home having behavioural challenges that were impacting their quality of life.

Claire and Jill knew they wanted to find a new home, somewhere where they could feel welcome, safe and give them opportunity to live their lives and pursue their goals freely. A testament to their friendship, it was vital that they found a new home where they could continue to live together. After an extensive search with the support of their care teams, they visited the Claro SIL-supported SDA property at Woodcroft.

“It felt like home straight away” says Jill. “It was so bright and airy, with big windows and lovely views. It was very different to our previous home which was quite dark, and my bedroom window looked out on to a high fence” she continues. “When we came here we knew it was right” agrees Claire.

Due to the circumstances in their former home, the Claro team worked hard to expedite the moving process for Claire and Jill, which included working with the property builder to ensure it was finished promptly to a high standard. The team were able to get Claire and Jill in and settled in mid-December 2023.

The property accommodates three residents, so a careful search for a third person to join Jill and Claire was undertaken by the Claro team. After their previous experience, it was important to both women that their third housemate be a good fit for their lifestyle and dynamic.

The Claro team found a suitable candidate named Sam, who was looking for a home where she could live and thrive, after previous experiences where she felt she didn’t have the agency and independences she desired. The team felt she was a good fit for the dynamic duo of Jill and Claire, so facilitated the three ladies getting to know each other.

Claro’s Customer Experience Manager, Libby, based in South Australia, supported Jill and Claire’s transition into the property, as well as the process of finding a suitable housemate for the pair. “It is really important to us that our clients are compatible with each other and their support workers. A happy home makes such a difference to people’s lives, so we take this process extremely seriously.” she says.

Sam is vision impaired, so Claire and Jill recorded a voice recording introducing themselves, to help put Sam at ease. Their bubbly personalities and senses of humour are conveyed perfectly in the recording, and Sam received it well. They later met for lunch for further introductions, and the trio hit it off – and still to this day rave about the cheesecake they shared that day!

Sam moved into Woodcroft a day after Claire and Jill, in mid-December 2023. Their support team made the house feel like a home, by decorating it for Christmas including a big Christmas tree. Claire credits these efforts with making them all feel welcome, and they enjoyed a beautiful Christmas with their friends and family.

In fact, Claro ran a Christmas decoration competition amongst its nation-wide accommodation properties, and the Woodcroft efforts earned the women a prize! They used their prize money to buy a bright red sandwich press for their kitchen, which matches their kettle and makes preparing food easier.

“Our previous house wasn’t very accessible. Kitchen benchtops were too high for us, it was small and couldn’t fit more than one person at a time” says Claire. “We’re looking forward to cooking together and learning new recipes”.

“What is good about living here is that we are supported to be who we want to be” enthuses Claire. “Right from the start we were encouraged to do the things we enjoy, things like Jill enjoying a glass of wine have developed into Thursday ‘happy hour’ where our care team join us for a drink and a chat.”

“We go out for lunch once a month with some of our support workers, it’s great to catch up and have a laugh. We enjoy it so much that we book our next catch up date on the day, and always try to choose a different café or restaurant.”

Jill loves gardening and plants, and the home is filled with greenery, including a raised garden bed outside where they have planted colourful flowers. Jill has several plants in her room that are thriving next to her big picture window, and she enjoys her view of the garden.

Now that they are settled in their new home, the women are looking forward to spreading their wings and tackling new goals, with travelling a definite focus for them both. They feel confident that with the support of their Claro team, and the strength of their friendship, their future is bright.

For more information on Claro’s accommodation and support services, visit our accommodation page.