About
Our journey began in 1968
Our organisation’s first beginnings trace back to 1968, when a meeting was held to discuss the increasing need for a disability service to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community in the Shire of Whittlesea. As a result of this meeting, the Whittlesea District Auxiliary Committee of the Northcote Preston Helping Hand Association was established, with the goal of building a disability service in Epping. The Auxiliary Committee worked tirelessly over the coming years to raise awareness and funds in support of this goal, which they ultimately achieved when our service opened its doors in 1977.
In 1971, the Auxiliary Committee was formally incorporated as the
Whittlesea District Branch of the Helping Hand Association, and thus
our organisation was officially commenced. In 2021, Aurora Support
Services celebrated our 50-year anniversary, being the 50-year
milestone from the first Annual General Meeting held in the
organisation’s own name.
Our organisation was given the approval in 1972 to make use of the allotment of Crown Land at 851 High Street, Epping as the site for the proposed disability service. While fundraising continued for the building works, the St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Lalor offered their Sunday School Hall as a temporary setting for our organisation, and we commenced providing supports to children with disability from the Hall in April 1973. Contracts to commence building at 851 High Street were signed in December 1975, and our High Street site officially opened in March 1977. Many participants who commenced attending our service as children in the 1970s are still a part of our organisation today.
Over the decades, our organisation has continued to grow. The organisation purchased the Lalor Fire Station and Superintendant’s house at 24-26 Vasey Avenue in Lalor in 1994, and expanded our services to begin delivering support from this site as well. Our Social Links service based from the Thomastown Library and Community Centre was established in 2007, followed by the Frontier Academy of Further Learning which commenced in 2012. In 2018 Frontier moved to their current premises in Reservoir.
Our organisation underwent a rebranding in 2016, adopting the new name of Aurora Support Services. The new name and branding brought a more modern image to the organisation, while still representing and upholding the values and history that we hold dear. The slogan ‘your future in your hands’ and the inclusion of the two hands in the logo are both a nod to our roots as the Helping Hand Association. The name Aurora – meaning “dawn” in Latin – signifies our new beginning and our continued optimism for a bright future, as well as being a connection to the Aurora Australis whose colours feature as the centre of our logo.
Aurora Support Services Inc.
Mission
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Aurora Support Services is a community organisation which provides services and supports for people with disabilities, their families and carers.
Our services focus on promoting abilities and encouraging independence
Vision
- Aurora Support Services vision is to create opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in and shape their own future.
Values
- At Aurora Support Services we value individuality and acceptance. We promote equal opportunity and community inclusion, and we deliver our services with respect and integrity.