Home to Home

Nineteen powerful stories uncover the hidden lives of young Australians with disability living in nursing homes because there is simply nowhere else for them to go.

The Home to Home Digital Story Exhibition, presented by The Summer Foundation with thanks to the Sidney Myer Fund, features a collection of digital stories created during a series of workshops, including one in Newcastle, across Australia in 2014. Storytellers developed scripts, narrated voice-overs and collated images and footage to produce insightful videos about their unique experience of living in a nursing home, being at risk of living in one or being a parent of a young person in a nursing home. 

Through these stories, we are invited to glimpse what life is sometimes like for young people living in residential aged care where the average age of fellow residents is 84 where there is no choice about what time to go to bed, what to wear, or what and when you eat. The emotions of grief, frustration and sadness are deeply present in this collection of stories. But so are the themes of perseverance, strength of character and hope.

The Summer Foundation

The Summer Foundation was established in 2006 to advocate for changes to human services policy and practice related to young people in nursing homes, and is proud to present three free exhibitions across Australia in Newcastle in April, Cairns in June and Geelong in September.

The Summer Foundation has a strong role in speaking with politicians, policy makers and other agencies about the issue of young people in nursing homes. But what really matters is giving young people and their families the opportunity to tell their story, from their perspective, and be heard.