Activ congratulates support worker Nayu Hosokawa for being nominated for a WA Disability Support Award in the Excellence in Supporting Inclusion and Citizenship category.

Nayu commenced work with Activ as a dedicated volunteer about four years ago, and secured a support worker position with us shortly after. She truly lives and breathes Activ’s values in everything she does, and ensures that all of her customers can access their local communities and get involved in activities of their choice, on their terms.

Nayu is instrumental in facilitating the hub’s art program, where customers create incredible works in multiple mediums, whether that be painting or pottery, among others, in an environment of support, inclusion and social connection.

Throughout the last year, many Activ customers who previously participated in the program, have decided to access community services from home instead of coming to the hub, due to the fact that they would be considered high-risk to COVID-19.

In light of the pandemic, Nayu went above and beyond to ensure that Activ’s high-risk customers would not miss out on the opportunity for inclusion in programs that they so loved at the community hub. Nayu created art programs that could be taken to customers in their homes, bespoke to each customer in terms of their interests, capabilities and accessibility needs. Nayu thought out of the box to ensure continuity of services and a variety of experiences for customers who would have otherwise not had the opportunity to continue to develop their skills and participate in the program.

Customer Operations Manager South Metro, Chris Norman, is extremely proud to have Nayu on his team.

“Nayu Hosokawa is incredibly quiet and humble, but is such an integral part of our team at Activ Community Services Beaconsfield. She makes genuine improvements to the lives of all the customers she supports, and has one of the most superior work ethics I’ve ever seen,” said Chris.

“Nayu focuses on clearly communicating with our customers and listening to them to find out what they want to do and what their goals are, to keep them engaged in the art program. She brings all the tools and supplies for every project to the customer’s home, tailoring the projects to the individual. For example, during Easter, Nayu took a series of projects to customers’ homes for them to participate in, like Easter egg baskets, bunnies made from pegs, and bracelets. Nayu takes the time to plan ahead, to take into consideration the customer’s interests, communication and mobility needs and sets up an art project in accordance. This commitment to inclusion that Nayu displays in her work is exemplary.”

Customers Russell and Gordon chose to stop attending the hub at the height of COVID-19, and Nayu ensured that the brothers could continue to receive services to support them to participate in their community and avoid social isolation.

Nayu’s flexibility and willingness to tailor services to individual customers’ needs, ensured that Gordon and Russell were still able to get out of the house and safely participate in activities of their choice.

“Nayu would come to our house instead. She made sure that we still got to go out and go for walks. She took us to King’s Park for walks,” said Russell.

“She asks us what we want to do, and helped us get out of the house during COVID,” said Gordon.

Russell and Gordon were extremely thankful for Nayu’s support in what was a challenging time for many of our customers.

“Although Nayu’s creativity and dedication are not unique to the era of COVID-19, it particularly shines during a time of great distress and uncertainty for many of our customers, and has made such a meaningful impact on their lives,” said Chris.

“With Nayu’s support, many of our customers’ artistic skills have grown exponentially, but they have also developed a confidence to choose projects on their own, displaying independent thinking and decision-making skills that they previously did not have. Nayu recognises the importance of these skills in order for our customers to exercise their rights to participation both in and out of the programs she conducts.”

Nayu has also taken the initiative to introduce ASDAN education modules to the art program, adding additional structure to the program and providing customers with the opportunity to gain an ASDAN qualification, which they are visibly excited about.

Nayu took the time to go through all the ASDAN resources with her customers and made modifications to the resources to suit each customer’s comprehension needs, whilst still adhering to the module’s criteria. At least five customers have now achieved ASDAN certifications.

“Their sense of achievement and participation has been amazing to see, and is testament to Nayu’s efforts,” said Chris.

Congratulations Nayu on your nomination – you would be a worthy recipient of a WA Disability Support Award.  At Activ we are proud to have people like Nayu on our team. If you are interested in joining our team, check out our Careers page.