Sunshine Butterflies Disability Support Service has recently adopted some new strategies within their organisation in order to combat the Covid-19 crisis.
The local charity has made some changes to their business model in recent months in order to keep their Butterfly Community connected and supported.
They have introduced a new service named “Butterfly TV” which is a video chat based program using the app, Zoom. This program allows their members to interact with each other and their support workers through a ‘virtual face-to-face’ experience, meaning they can all be together again.
In ‘Butterfly TV’, Sunshine Butterflies members all participate in an introductory sharing circle, letting their friends know what they’ve been up to and how they are feeling, under the guidance of the support staff. They are then broken off into smaller groups within the video chat, where they participate in various games, activities and educational programs from the comfort of their own home.
On the agenda thus far has been incredible live performances from local acts like Taylor Moss, tours of the Therapy Animals at ‘Our Backyard’, fitness and meditation sessions and of course all the favourite Sunshine Butterflies educational and recreational programs, like ‘Our Farmyard Cooking School, ‘Chippies Corner’ and ‘Kiss My Art’.
Sunshine Butterflies Zoom Coordinator Liam Kenny said the initiative has already shown great results.
“We have been running this program for a few weeks now and it has already achieved outstanding results with our members” Said Liam.
“The ability to give people living with a disability a safe space to interact during this time is so important, and we knew had to introduce something to combat the devastating closure of our facilities.”
Sunshine Butterflies identifies first and foremost as being a place of support, connection and social interaction. When the Charity closed its doors in March so many people were devastated by the immediate loss of these key components, especially the members and families who rely heavily on those services.
Program Support Linda Grams said they’ve already seen great support from the community.
“We introduced ‘Butterfly TV’ shortly after our closure and we have already had an outpouring of support from our community. It is allowing our members to achieve similar experiences as they would in our day programs, as well create a sense of connection and give them something to look forward to every week,” Linda said.
Sunshine Butterflies have always stood by their vision of creating an all-inclusive environment and this is right on brand for them yet again.
“We believe that although we may have to physically distance from one another, we don’t have to socially distance. Connection is the most important thing to us all,” Linda said.
Sunshine Butterflies is running ‘Butterfly TV’ on a weekly schedule and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. They have been able to completely change the way they do things in the interest of those most at need and that’s a pretty incredible thing to see come out of such difficult circumstances.
Sunshine Butterflies is still servicing the local community through one-on-one support, their social enterprise ‘Sunshine Gardens’ and now through their new initiative “Butterfly TV”.
