Cherylynne and James recently relocated from a three-bedroom home to one of the new Seachange Miami apartments, developed by CHL and the Queensland Government for eligible residents aged 55 and over.
The new complex provides high-quality, right-sized homes with accessible features to give older people the support they need to age-in-place in their own communities. By providing these essential housing solutions to people like Cherylynne and James who were looking to down-size, it frees up larger homes to help families who are waiting for a suitable option.“We lived in public housing for 23 years in a home that was modified for our daughter Sharon who lived with a disability. We were her full-time carers. We lost our beautiful daughter nearly two years ago,” Cherylynne said.
“We were told our daughter’s life expectancy was between 10-12 years, but she was 48 years old when she died. We feel blessed to have been able to live with Sharon in a home that made it easier for us to care for her full time. When our daughter passed it was just the two of us in a three-bedroom home that had wheelchair access and lots of modifications that would be good for a family in need,” James said.
“When we got the invitation to come here, we thought it would be good to give another family the opportunity we had been given to raise and care for our daughter,” James said.
While downsizing was a challenge, Cherylynne and James said they realised they had accumulated a lot of things they no longer needed.
“I didn’t want to throw a lot of things out,” James says. “I found instructions for putting together a swing set for our son and he is 52 now. I don’t know why I still had it. I also found a lot of woodwork tools and realised I don’t use them anymore. Once you start you find it’s ok to let things go.”
Having family close by is important to Cherylynne and James and they have regular contact with Cherylynne’s mother who is in a nursing home and their son who works nearby.
“We haven’t had to move far and we like the location because it close to my mum who is 94 and not too far from our son.”
The couple say having support from the Queensland Government and CHL made the move easier. “It has been a good experience because everyone was wonderful during the move. Nothing was too difficult and we found people went out of their way to help.”
