Leonnie has a rare condition called Niemann-Pick Type c. She has short term memory loss and could be anxious. Leonnie also found it a challenge to sit and engage with people for a long time. This meant doing social things were difficult and she did not feel happy.
Janet Gibson, Neighbourhood Team Coordinator Northern Sydney met Leonnie and knew that the key was finding the right, local support worker to support her achieve her goals of being more active and being happy doing interesting things.
Janet matched Leonnie with Debbie Rossi, recruited from the local community:
I saw Leonine last week at our first peer support group and she was smiling, happy and very chatty! She was not the same person I had met early this year. They were just back from the Manly Jazz Festival, and Debbie showed me a video of her enjoying herself, dancing and singing along. What a transformation!”
