George started up Community Connecting Illawarra in 2016. Before this, George worked for five years at LiveWorkPlay, a person-centred and progressive support service for people with intellectual disabilities in Canada. Through this opportunity, George discovered his passion and has gained extensive and valuable experience working with people with intellectual disabilities in his roles as a Community Connector, Support Coordinator and Team Lead. But more importantly, George was expertly trained in and embraced how essential adopting a person-centred approach is when working with our members to help them achieve their goals of living a full and good life of their choosing. George takes pride in utilising his vast experience with adopting a person-centred approach coupled with his natural ability of building relationships and networks for the benefit of the people he works with to have the opportunity to succeed and achieve their goals.
George holds a Masters of Social Development (UNSW) and a Bachelor of Science, Major in Population Health (UOW). In addition to this, George possesses relevant qualifications including Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training, Mental Health training, and training in Reflective Listening.
George is grateful for the opportunity to give back and contribute to the region he grew up in and more importantly to help create opportunities for the community to welcome people with intellectual disabilities as valued and contributing members.
Véronique studied at the University of Ottawa where she obtained a Bachelor in Social Science with a Major in Psychology. She undertook several additional training including Motivational Interviewing, Case Management training and Concurrent Disorder training, just to name a few. Véronique has many years working in the mental health field where she provided community support services with the purpose of helping individuals identify and achieve their goals. Véronique also worked as an Inclusion Support Worker for some time working with individuals with disabilities, increasing the occasions of empowerment, social inclusion and autonomy when accompanying clients to social activities.
Véronique is passionate about making a difference in lives of individuals with disabilities and the greater community.