CHANGE 1 – AT THE TOP

Jennifer Bolland announced her intended retirement as Director and Shareholder of ISADD (WA) at ISADD’s Xmas function; and this was formalized on January 10th.

Jenny remains with the organization on a part-time basis, as Senior Service Consultant. Daryl Cooper takes over as replacement Director/Shareholder.

Change 2. NEW EXECUTIVE COORDINATOR FOR WA

With Daryl Cooper assuming the role and responsibilities as Director, we are pleased to announce that Isabella O’Donovan has been appointed Executive Coordinator of ISADD (WA) Pty Ltd.

Isabella has worked in the field of EIBI for some ten years, and has been with ISADD since 2006. After a year with us in Perth, she  returned to Ireland where she successfully managed ISADD’s operations there between 2007 and 2009, before she moved permanently to Perth. After an initial stint as Case Manager, she took on the roles of Training Manager and Program Manager, the latter of which she will continue in conjunction with her Executive Coordinator duties. She will be very ably assisted in her new role by Psychologist/Program Manager Larni Mullan.

Change 3. ISADD TO MOVE IN MAY

Our lease on the Brisbane Street premises expires at the end of May, necessitating a move to new premises.

We have secured a lease to offices in Angove Street in North Perth. With a greater floor area than our current offices, these new premises will allow for any future expansion and with a five year lease with options to renew, should give us a degree of permanency.

LITHUANIAN NEWS

It is sad to have to announce the resignation of Ramune Bazyte, Senior Case Manager, and founding member of ISADD in Lithuania.

Ramune was ISADD’s first Case Manager, and worked tirelessly to provide a service to families across Lithuania, travelling from Klaipeda to Vilnius on a weekly basis for a year or more until such time as we were able to train Case Managers there. She also dedicated herself to development of her professional skills, even travelling to Ireland at her own expense, to work with and learn from ISADD personnel there.

Many Lithuanian families have much to thank Ramune for, and many children are leading better lives because of the intervention she provided. At ISADD, we are truly sorry to see her go, and thank her most sincerely for her invaluable contribution both to the organisation and to client families.

DISASTER STRIKES

Our sincere condolences to psychologist, Sue McDonald, and her husband Mike on the loss of her home and almost all her possessions in the recent bushfires in Gippsland, Victoria.

Sue, who practices in Sale, has been an associate of ISADD for many years, and words are inadequate in trying to convey the emotions aroused by both Sue’s words – below – and the photographs (see Photo Section) of the devastation. Sue writes:

“We lost everything, house, sheds, vehicles, fences. It’s hard to get our heads around at the moment, but I suppose the hardest thing is the things that we have lost that can’t be replaced such as photos, paintings, etc. and Mike’s over 40 years of equipment he has built up in including all his radios and computers, all his test gear was in the shed beside the house that was destroyed. The only thing that survived was Mike’s old Land Rover he was towing the fire tanker with and our old Mazda 626 wreck that was sitting in the paddock. Both our boys lost all their stuff as Jeff’s was in storage container in the paddock and his WRX was in one of the sheds and Nigel had moved home just before Xmas. The car in the picture was Mike’s 2000 Land Rover Discovery whose computer had died the night before and had to be towed home so he couldn’t move it – the silver trail of metal was part of the engine block.

I had woken up at about 3:30 am and seen the flames down the hill below us in Seaton, I had packed a few clothes for Mike and I in the car the night before, thinking my box of photos was at the office –but they weren’t. I grabbed Jeff’s dog and the cat and got away apparently only 15 or 20 minutes before the fire arrived. Mike and Nigel stayed to fight it and Mike’s brother got there to help but in the end the radiant heat forced them into the house where they stayed until they couldn’t stay any longer and jumped into the vehicles they’d parked side-on to the brick verandah and drove into the already burnt paddock to wait it out.”

MORE SAD NEWS

Case Managers who did their training at Roleystone, and other ISADD personnel who had much to do with the former office there, will be sad to learn of the death of Brutus at the beginning of February.

A big, friendly but quiet dog, Brutus lived to age 12, well beyond the average for large dogs of 10 years. He was much loved by all who met him.