Wesley Home Respite

Wesley Home Respite assists carers of adults with a disability to access planned in-home and home-hosting respite which is provided by trained volunteers and host families.

The aim of the Wesley Home Respite program is to enhance the capacity of older family carers to continue their caring role and improve their quality of life through the provision of regular and consistent overnight respite and/or planned in-home respite.

This program is currently based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Who is eligible?

Respite will be provided to:

• Adults who meet the eligibility criteria under the Disability Services Act 1991 or the Intellectually Disabled Persons Act 1996;
• Adults who live with family carers in the North and West Metropolitan Region, and
• Adults whose carers are 65 years or older.

Benefits for participants

Wesley Home Respite offers all participants the opportunity to build stronger links within their local community. Other benefits include:

For volunteers and host families:

• Development of new skills and enhancing current skills;
• Being involved and contributing to the community;
• Personal satisfaction;
• Meeting new people;
• Increasing connections with other members of your local community,
• Reimbursement for out of pocket expenses and financial support for day and overnight care, and
• Improving social opportunities for people with disabilities.

 For carers:

• Building a sense of trust and rapport in other carers to enable them to share their ongoing carer role;
• Enhancing the capacity of older family carers to continue their caring role and improve their quality of life through the provision of regular and consistent overnight respite and/or planned in-home respite, and
• Increasing connections with other members of the local community

For adults with a Disability:

• To broaden the social experiences and the level of independence.

Become a Volunteer or a Host Family

Volunteers and Host Families provide in-home and home-hosting of a person with a disability, to provide respite to their older carers.

Volunteers only need to be available for a few hours each month to visit a person with a disability to allow their carer some time out. This small time commitment can make all the difference to a carer of a person with a disability.

Host Family time commitments are generally greater than those of volunteers. Their commitment involves either day or overnight visits where the person with a disability will visit or stay in the home of the host family.

All Volunteers and Host Families receive training and support from Wesley Home Respite staff.

For more information about volunteering, please contact us or register your interest online »

Contact Us

Wesley Home Respite
32 Turnham Avenue
Rosanna VIC 3084

Phone: (03) 9455 2578
Fax: (03) 9459 6871
Email: homerespite@wesley.org.au