A Sunshine Coast family has created a unique one-stop shop for people with disabilities, after struggling to find the resources they required for their daughter.
Danielle and Jack Hockley will open the doors of Your Capability Store on October 1, to help cater for those with special needs.
They started operating the business online a couple of months ago and are now ready to take it to the next level with their shop at Kunda Park.
The bright idea was sparked by their journey with six-year-old daughter Keira, who was born with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV), which is a virus that can lead to various long-term health problems.
Danielle said the business was essentially developed out of frustration, after they struggled to easily access aids for Keira.
Keira is profoundly deaf, non-verbal, autistic, vision impaired and has developmental delays.
“She’s the main reason we started the shop,” Danielle said.
“We worked out through the years that there was nowhere that you could go, to try on clothes or get sensory fidgets and other experiences.”
After speaking to many local families with children with disabilities, she discovered it was a common problem.
“You normally need to buy from overseas or get things from 10 different stores … so we wanted to make a one-stop shop, where you could get all of these things in one go,” she said.
“It is definitely needed on the Sunshine Coast.
“Children like Keira need extra help in everyday life and to be able to (easily) find products or items of clothing is a definite win for any parent and carer.”
The business will stock a range of products online and in-store, including fine motor development toys and tools, chew necklaces, clothing, bedding, wheelchair accessories, incontinence aids and assistive technology.
“What we have in store now is only the start,” Danielle said.
“I want to make this business the one business you go to for everything. I want to be able to provide different options for the one outcome. I want there to be choice for our loved ones.”
There has already been strong interest from families with special needs and also from people who work in the disability sector.
“I’ve had lots of OTs (occupational therapists) and speech therapists wanting to buy things they need for their workplace,” Danielle said.
Danielle and Jack have three “beautiful” kids in Cooper, 9, Alex, 8, and Keira, 6. The family lives Mountain Creek.
Danielle was a foundation student at Mountain Creek State High before she travelled and met Jack in Western Australia.
They settled on the Sunshine Coast and when Danielle was 32 weeks pregnant with Keira, they discovered calcifications on their daughter’s brain.
It represented the start of some challenging times and an overhaul.
Jack quit his fly-in, fly-out work to be with the family full-time and they started operating an appliances and bedding business, L&M Gold Star, at Kunda Park.
Meanwhile, they juggled a growing family and countless meetings with doctors.
“Keira has had non-stop appointments since the day she was born,” Danielle said.
And she has reached some amazing milestones in her own time.
She was able to crawl at 16 months and, despite fears she may never walk, took her first steps just before she was three years old.
Keira recently learned how to feed herself with a spoon.
“She has a bowl with a lip that helps take the excess food of the spoon. These are the little things that can help that you don’t think about until you see them,” Danielle said.
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Keira also attends the relatively new Palmview State Special School, which has provided Danielle with some time to prepare the shop.
Your Capability Store will run alongside the family’s established business.
“But hopefully, if our new store is as amazing as we think it should be, then the other one will be on the side,” Danielle said.
The store’s official opening will be held on October 1, from 10am to 1pm, at 100 Enterprise Street, Kunda Park. There will be a special guest, sausage sizzle, jumping castle and face painting.
