Project Independence Larapinta 2021

See photos and blogs from our walkers and register your interest to join our adventure in 2022.

Offering a myriad of raw and beautiful desert landscapes, the Larapinta Trail is one of Australia’s most premier walking trails. Together with a team of enthusiastic adventurers you’ll spend 7 days discovering the rugged wilderness of the Northern Territory.

Beginning your journey on the outskirts of Alice Springs, you’ll follow the trail as it traverses the dramatic West MacDonnell Mountain Ranges. Whilst the trail can be rocky and arduous at certain points, expect to be rewarded with incredible 360° views of red desert plains and ancient bush. Along the way, learn about the traditional culture of the local Indigenous peoples and some of their sacred sites, an unforgettable element of the experience.

In Australia, people with an intellectual disability are among those least likely to ever attain home ownership. Often, this leaves them living in unsuitable or unsafe situations which negatively impact their quality of life. This might mean living in an aged care facility in their 30s, or with family members who are unable to provide adequate care. People with an intellectual disability, already often pushed to the margins of society, deserve independence and choice over where and how they live.

There are currently 52 people on the waitlist in ACT and over 200 in Melbourne for Project Independence housing. As more money is raised, more housing can be built allowing them to stop waiting and start living independently.

The first group of residents moved in to the first Project Independent housing development in 2016. Since then, surveys have shown that 10 out of 10 respondents say the move has made them more independent and made them feel more part of the community.

Who will you help? Meet one of the Project Independence residents.

Teresa was in her mid-fifties and like most people, her own space and freedom of routine were important to her. She’d been living happily in her parents’ house, but when she lost her mother and father in the space of a year, she also lost her home. Teresa was not eligible for community housing, and facilities like aged-care or drug and alcohol rehabilitation were not appropriate. Following a recommendation for Teresa to be institutionalised, the family felt at a loss. The prospects of finding somewhere for Teresa to comfortably settle down and call home again seemed distant. In researching options, they came across Project Independence which seemed to offer a perfect solution. “When we found out I got it, we just hugged each other,” Teresa says with her brother Les. Now settled into her own space, Teresa has privacy, independence, choice and control. She’s working towards home ownership and enjoying the little joys of having her own space. She says her favourite part of her new home is being able to eat Tim Tams on her own private balcony.