Last week, we joined the CareWays NAIDOC Koonawarra Family Fun Day. It gave us a chance to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and spend the day among the community we’re lucky enough to work alongside.

We wanted to share a little about the day itself, because days like this shape how we think about care, connection, and what it really means to show up for people.

The Day Began With a Traditional Smoking Ceremony

The celebration began outdoors on the grass, with families gathered to watch a traditional smoking ceremony. Performers in ochre body paint moved through the smoke as it drifted low across the ground, with traditional music playing nearby and setting a gentle rhythm over the whole gathering.

The crowd sat close together, quiet and attentive, as the ceremony unfolded. It felt like a moment of real respect, and a reminder of how much culture and tradition sat at the heart of the day.

A Warm Welcome Inside

Later, everyone moved indoors, where local organisations, including our team, had set up stalls to meet the community. Our banner stood beside a table with information for anyone curious about the support we offer.

Our team spent the afternoon talking with families, chatting through anything they wanted to know, and getting to know the faces behind them. Inside felt calm and welcoming, with familiar faces catching up, quiet conversations here and there, and everyone taking their time to simply be together.

Why Days Like This Matter to Us

You might wonder why a disability and mental health provider makes a community day like this a priority. For us, it comes down to something we believe in deeply. Good support isn’t only about services and plans. It’s about knowing the people behind them.

Watching the ceremony and standing among the community reminded us how much culture shapes family, identity, and wellbeing. When we take the time to understand the people we support, we bring more warmth and understanding into everything we do, from Support Coordination to Psychosocial Recovery Coaching. This matters most in mental health and psychosocial disability support, an area our leadership team knows well through years in mental health nursing and mental health social work.

Choosing to Be Present, Not Just Attend

There’s a real difference between having a stall at an event and actually being part of it. Our team didn’t just stand behind a table. We watched the ceremony, sat with families, and joined the day the way everyone else did.

Some of the nicest moments happened away from our stall entirely, sitting on the grass during the ceremony, or catching a quiet chat with someone passing through. Moments like these remind us why trust with the community matters just as much as the services we provide.

Thank You to Everyone Who Made the Day Special

None of this happens without real care behind the scenes. CareWays brought together performers, stallholders, and local organisations to build a day that felt easy and welcoming for everyone who came along.

We want to thank CareWays for the invitation and for everything that went into making the day so special. Thank you too, to everyone who came by to see us, sat with us during the ceremony, or simply took a moment to chat.

How This Connects to Our Work

We’re a registered and fully accredited NDIS provider, supporting people across Dapto, Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Nowra, Moss Vale, and the wider Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions. We currently support over 200+ participants, and in 2025 we were named Health Improvement Award winner for our approach to disability and mental health support.

These things matter to us, but they aren’t the whole story. What matters just as much is how we build real relationships with the people and communities around us. Standing with families during the smoking ceremony and spending the afternoon in conversation at our stall is one small way we try to hold onto that.

What We’re Carrying Forward From the Day

Every community celebration teaches us something. This one reminded us how much there is to gain from slowing down, watching, listening, and simply being part of the community, rather than only offering a service to it.

We’ll keep showing up to days like this, not because it’s expected of us, but because it reflects how we want to work. Genuine connection, cultural respect, and community involvement aren’t separate from good disability and mental health support. They’re part of it.

Talk to Us Anytime

If you’re looking for a registered NDIS provider who wants to understand the whole of you, not just your plan, we’d genuinely love a chat. You can call us on 1300 070 724 or email admin@bbdisability.com.au.

We’re based at 6 Osborne Street, Dapto, and proud to support participants across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions. On any business day, you’ll hear back from us within 2 working hours, because we know how much it matters to feel heard, not left waiting.
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