Melissa, a participant of Access Your Supports, has come a long way over the past few years. Since February 2020, she’s found the support she wanted from the Peer Mentor Program. Ebony and Erin, her current Peer Mentors, have been by her side for about 2 and a half years, guiding her towards achieving her goals.
Since engaging with Ebony, Melissa has been working on her goals of living an active lifestyle, participating in activities in the community and maintaining friendships.
Regular Peer Mentor support has helped Melissa with all these goals, particularly maintaining a consistent exercise routine, in which she has attended Dash Gym and Wellbeing twice a week for two years since it opened in 2022.
Dash Gym and Wellbeing, an all-abilities gym and wellbeing centre, provides all its members with a supportive environment, regardless of age, abilities or fitness levels. She finds the gym to be inclusive, welcoming, comfortable, safe and has made plenty of friends there.
Melissa is soon to be celebrating her 42nd birthday in March and the centre is hosting the celebrations and her friends will be sure to be in attendance.
Despite facing challenges due to her epilepsy, Melissa refuses to let this get her way of living life to its fullest.
Alongside her Peer Mentors, she engages in various activities besides going to the gym. These include visiting the Ballarat Wildlife Park, walking, bush walking, horse riding and going to the shops. Recently, Melissa and her Peer Mentor visited Sovereign Hill and panned for gold. Sadly, no gold was found but she managed to pick up a few nice souvenirs, including some additions to her key ring collection.
Looking ahead, Melissa has a long-term goal of returning to the water and being able to go surfing with the support of others. That means that at the gym, she is working on improving her fitness and building the right muscle groups.
With her determination, the support of her Peer Mentors, other NDIS supports and the wider community, Melissa will be catching waves in no time and thinking about what she will accomplish next.
