Legacy WA is a non-profit organization working in Perth, Western Australia in support of the families of incapacitated or deceased veterans. It provides financial and social services to Australian families after the death of a spouse or parent during their service in the armed forces. It is currently supporting around 90,000 widows, 1900 children and disabled people in Australia. There are over 5900 volunteers working for the Legacy who have dedicated their time and energy to ensure that the families of the deceased veterans are cared for.
Legacy has been working since 1923 to help the families of the deceased soldiers. It helps with pension entitlements, home care services, tuition for children and adults, as well as care programs for socially isolated widows.
Mission:
Legacy is aimed at caring for the families of the deceased and incapacitated soldiers and provide for them social and moral support.
It targets to provide them the same level of comfort and support they had before the death of their loved ones.
Vision:
It is a voluntary organization that is funded and supported by servicemen and servicewomen, veterans and volunteers from all fields of life. It cares for the families of the deceased from the Australian Defense Forces who lost their lives during military service for the country. It is committed to enhance the lives of the families it supports through innovative programs and practical plans that include provision of the basic needs of the families and individuals after bereavement. It advocates for their pension entitlements, and other rights and benefits. It assists the families to recover from their times of grief and loss and helps them to thrive and flourish in the society. It depends on public support to look after the families under its care and protection.
Services Offered:
Support for Young Families and Children
Legacy is committed to provide support to young families who have befallen a misfortune after the loss of a loved one and gives them a new hope in life. It aims to compensate for the loss faced by the families living without a husband or parent by providing them relief at times of financial hardships. It assists in children education and development and provides social support. It provides options for accommodation, domestic help, parental support and child care. It keeps in contact with the affected families and keeps in view their requirements relating to home maintenance and security, transport, companionship, domestic assistance and child care. It aims to provide the families with the level of comfort they had in their lives before suffering the loss. It gives grants, scholarships and mentorship programs to children that assist them in education and life choices. It also organizes holiday camps and adventure activities to provide them with support and opportunities for new acquaintances.
Protecting Ageing and Vulnerable Widows
Legacy aims to provide comfort, security and support to the ageing widows who find themselves alone and without a companion. It makes sure that they also live a happy and satisfying life despite of their loss. It helps them in combating social isolation so they live at home with dignity and find relief from financial hardships. It also ensures their health and security. It has a strong mission to ensure that no widow of a deceased veteran ever has to face the hardships of life alone. Most of the widows that the Legacy is taking care of are aged 85 years or older who suffered bereavement during Second World War, Korean and Vietnam War. It focuses strongly on the provision of financial and legal advice and support, health services, accommodation facilities and help with disability and ageing issues. It creates for them outings, hobby centres and community centre facilities to get them out of the stress caused by grief and loneliness. It offers them installation of medical emergency alarm systems and provides them access to community transport for easy mobility. It also provides a loan, grant or allowance incase of genuine need.
Caring for Dependents with Disabilities
Legacy cares for people with intellectual, physical, psychological and neurological disabilities. It believes that people with disabilities have an equal right to enjoy the opportunities of life given to the others. It aims to improve their quality of life by devising for them a healthy lifestyle and encourages social inclusion. It offers them enduring residential care that includes options for home modifications and house maintenance. It organizes social activities for the disabled for their personal and mental development so that they may also feel a part of the community and do not consider them socially neglected. It assists for education choices for children and help in work placement opportunities.
Protection for Defense Force Families
Legacy provides safety, care and support to the families of Australian soldiers who meet with a misfortune on humanitarian, defense and peace keeping missions. This gesture is highly appreciated among the Australian Defense Force and Community.
Pension Advocacy
Legacy best understands the needs of the deceased families of the Australian Defense Force and supports them through the services of experienced pension officials who help them get their entitlements. It assists widows to claim their benefits and entitlement, pensions and dependant benefits. It helps in getting claims for income support. All these services are provided free to widows.
Through its determined efforts and continuous support from the volunteers and community, Legacy has so far been able to care for around 90,000 families fulfilling their financial, social and educational needs. It provides them with medical and transport facilities and designs for their social activities so they may not feel isolated or alone after the loss of their spouse or parent. It helps the families to get on in life after their bereavement and start a normal life like before.
Legacy WA is a support to all the bereaved families of the deceased soldiers who lost their lives in service for Australia. It gets support and encouragement from the people for its services. Being a voluntary, non-profit organization, Legacy ensures that every family of the deceased veterans is looked after and cared for.
