Unity's taking charge Posted by Posted by Loren Savage on 16 May 2016 Posted on: 16 May 2016

Unity Collins is a participant of the Enabling Good Lives Waikato Demonstration. Her Connector Nikita had a catch up with her recently to see how she is going and what is different for her now she is involved with Enabling Good Lives. “Before Enabling Good Lives I did cooking, zumba, art, café, make overs, swimming, beading, went to the library and did Maori art. It was on a timetable and I did the same thing every week. I enjoyed this. I used to live with my mum and dad.”

Her life is very different now, “Now, I’m flatting with my friends. It’s really, really fun. We have fun and laughs. I’ve told mum and dad that I love flatting.”

With Enabling Good Lives Unity has chosen who she would like to employ, “Jo is my supporter and my sister. We just love working with each other. Sometimes we go dog walking around Lake Ngaroto. We have three dogs that we walk. Jo put a post on Facebook about it and people replied to say we can walk their dog. We are going to run this as a small business and charge for it. We do yoga twice a week. She helps me cook and clean. I love going swimming with Jo.” Unity also let Nikita know what else she enjoys doing during the day, “I like doing Maori culture because I get to socialise with other people. We have been doing flax work and cooked fried bread. My life is so much easier than it was because I can get out and do stuff. I’m happy on the inside and the outside.”

Unity’s Mum she said the most important part of the Enabling Good Lives journey was, “For us the big thing is how happy Unity is.”