Farewell to Ability Links

graphic of leaves

Intereach Ability Links winds up today (September 30) after five years delivering services to people with disability, their families and carers. 

With the help of Ability Links staff, affectionately known as ‘Linkers’, the popular program built on the strengths and skills of people with a disability and developed their networks in their own communities outside of the traditional disability services sector. 

Intereach  senior manager Mardi Chartres (former Ability Links project manager) said the program had been a great success across the Riverina Murray region. 

Intereach will now transition to Community Links, a program unique to the organisation. 

“We’ve seen the very real impact Ability Links can have on people in the community and now is the time to reflect and appreciate the good work this program achieved for people with a disability in our New South Wales communities,” Mardi said. 

quote icon in teal rectangle

“Ability Links has played a big role in supporting people with a disability to reach their goals and making our communities more inclusive for everyone."

“We’re now excited to be introducing our Community Links program, which will continue the good work of Ability Links but in a slightly different way.” 

Intereach CEO Keryn Fox said “Community Links is an extension of the good work our staff are already doing and builds on the Community Hubs model which is offered from our Deniliquin headquarters and some of our other smaller southern New South Wales offices”. 

“We’re rolling out Community Links across our entire footprint. People can walk into any one of our offices off the street and feel confident they’ll be linked to the local services or community group they need. 

“Community Links is designed to strengthen our foundation and reputation as a community leader in rural and regional areas. We’re committed to developing community infrastructure and supporting rural and regional communities, and Community Links is another exciting chapter in our organisation’s success story. 

The Community Links team is made up of ‘Community Linkers’. In many cases, Community Linkers will be the first point of contact for people accessing Intereach services for the first time. Linkers will, in many ways, be the ‘face of Intereach’, responsible for working with individuals, service providers and community groups to provide a locally based, single point of access to information, resources and services that are accessible to all members of the community.