The Meaning and Features of Home

Home is a personal place and somewhere we want to feel really comfortable. These feelings of comfort and safety can be what differentiates between a house and a home.

 

Below are three quotes about home. Can you relate to any of them? 

“Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge,
a happy place in which to dwell, 
a place where we are loved and where we can love.” 
Marvin J Ashton 

 

"In this home...
We do second chances.
We do real. We do mistakes. We do I’m sorrys. We do loud really well. We do hugs.
We do together best of all.” 
Anonymous

 

“I always want objects in my home that have a connection to me or something I’ve loved. It’s still stuff, but it’s stuff that has meaning.” 
Nate Berkus 

 

In the last workshop about rights and safeguards we talked about everyone having the right to access, participate and live safely in the community. These rights have led to different models of funding so more people living with a disability can choose to live independently, rather than in a group homes.

Over time people living with disability have had their rights recognised and have moved from:

Institutions and hospital-like places

 

to more individual arrangements

 

Can you imagine what life might have been like living in an institution, as shown in the first picture above? People there would have been faced with:

• Routines and rules set by staff with little choice for themselves
• Not feeling safe or feeling over-protected
• No choice about who they shared a room with
• Little community connection or visitors
• A power imbalance with staff
• Impersonal surroundings
• Very few alternative places they could live and receive support

 

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Thankfully a lot has changed since then, and it is now understood that everybody is entitled to feel at home where they live. They also have the right to pursue a typical living arrangement in their community.

 

We have moved into an era of individual supported living, which means you can remain in your home, if you’re happy there, and have support workers visit you. This offers more choice and control over where you live, who you live with and what your ideal ‘home’ looks like. With that in mind, let’s think about what features of a house typically make it feel like home.

Some examples include:

• A location that feels safe and familiar and is close to community
• Affordable 
• A fixed address so you feel settled
• Choice and control over who you live with and your routines
• Connected with household members or the local community
• Furnishing and decorations that you choose and like

 

Do any of these features matter to you?​

 

Let’s now look at this short video showing Heather inside her home. This clip covers how Heather worked to design a home around her lifestyle, needs and family. 

Heather, on designing a home for lifestyle and family from JFA Purple Orange on Vimeo.

 

You may not have such a well-established home as yet, but this is a great example of what is possible. The video may have also given you some ideas for goals to include in your next NDIS plan or advocate for at your next NDIS planning meeting!

 

Congrats you have completed section one of the Feeling at Home topic! Next up we look at some of the options for individualised living arrangements. Click the next link when you are ready.