Access Your Supports turns five

GEELONG-based disability support start-up Access Your Supports (AYS) has celebrated its fifth birthday, and marked the occasion with a $10,000 donation to a local charity.

The agency, which enables the lives of those living with a disability, was founded by Ralph Menchise in 2016 and has experienced 300 per cent growth for four consecutive years.

Providing support services such as support co-ordination, plan management, therapy, groups and peer mentors to NDIS participants, Mr Menchise has built a thriving business at AYS, which began with a team of two in 2016 and now has more than 180 staff.

AYS has helped more than 3,000 NDIS participants receive the support they need, spending 81,744 hours in 2020 alone providing direct services and finishing the year by donating $10,000 to local NFP charity and volunteer network Geelong Mums.

The year before also saw a huge leap for AYS with its expansion out of Geelong and into regional Victoria, setting up offices in Mildura and Colac to help more people have the supports they need available to them.

Mr Menchise is supported by assistant director Lisa Hamling, who is also the director at The Treehouse, an autism family support group also based in Geelong.

In its fifth year, AYS is aiming to drive outcomes with its participants, further expand into rural and remote areas, and provide opportunities for participants to gain employment.