Goya Dmytryshchak
Robbie Cordier can’t wait for gigs to restart at the Altona Bowling Club, a stone’s throw from the home he can finally call his own.
Born with benign tumours behind his eyes resulting in vision loss, and on the autism spectrum, Mr Cordier, 37, has realised his dream to live independently.
His mother, Mandy, credits the National Disability Insurance Scheme with playing a vital role in supporting the family to live lives of their choosing.
“Robbie recently moved into his own unit and I can see it’s sparked a new joy in him,” she said.
“Through the NDIS, we were able to engage our preferred support services – Gateways Support Services, Mambourin and Mable – who have been able to work with us to tailor supports to suit Robbie, and the results have just been incredible.
“Robbie was shy, and a bit timid, but now he’s so much more social.“
Robbie works five days a week as a gardener with Mambourin at Werribee, catching the train as he is legally blind so can’t drive.
“We do gardening for child care centres,“ he said.
“We do an aged care facility up at Werribee.
“I’m based up at Sunshine at the moment because I’ve been doing city jobs – special jobs that they’ve got on because they’ve got that much work on, they can’t cope with it.“
Born and raised in Altona, Mr Cordier said living on his own had changed life for the better.
“It gives me more freedom,“ he said
“I gotta pay the bills on my own. I gotta watch how much I spend, especially with the rent on this joint.“
His apartment, decorated with memorabilia of his beloved Tigers football club, is also close to his favourite bowling club where dad Tony is his No. 1 supporter.
“I can tell you one thing: I can’t wait for the Altona Bowler to reopen,“ Mr Cordier said.
