Image of Rachel with daughter Molly

Whilst being a wheelchair user, Rachel Peterson has not only excelled as a mother of two but also as a successful entrepreneur and disability advisor.
 

Born with Muscular Dystrophy, Rachel is grateful for the approach her parents took from the moment she sat in a wheelchair.

“Doctors told my parents I’d never lift my head off a pillow and that they should consider putting me in an institution. But they were having none of that,” she says.

Still expected to clean her room, Rachel was enrolled in a standard school in Auckland.

“I didn’t like it at the time and far preferred my nana’s approach which was to leave little saucers of food around the house that I could crawl to and snack on,” she laughs.

But it was her parents that showed Rachel she was just as capable of doing what any able-bodied person could do.
 

Now aged 47 and with two daughters, Molly and Ruby, aged 23 and 12, Rachel is the driving force behind multiple ventures, including a social enterprise gift box company.

“I was coming across all these businesses that were employing disabled people and weren’t owned by disabled people.”
 

Her business, co-owned with Molly, employs disabled people and uses products made predominantly by those living with disabilities. Since its fruition in 2020, the company has already returned more than $30,000 to the disabled community.

The disability support Rachel has access to has transformed her life, but it hasn’t always been easy.    

“I would rather it take me half a day to change my daughter’s bed than have another stranger in my house that has no understanding or compassion towards disabilities.”
 

Being part of a start-up robotic exoskeleton business that saw her working 50 hours a week, and with her second daughter nearly due, she decided to try Individualised Funding through Manawanui.

Rachel says she’s able to choose when she needs support, and who she’d like that support person to be. After a major health ordeal, including a hysterectomy and double mastectomy due to the BRCA1 gene, she has been able to employ Molly as part of her support team.

“Molly loves her job and I love having her. What started as a family necessity is turning into an amazing way for us to all live. Without Individualised Funding, it wouldn’t be possible.”

Rachel is in the process of shifting homes and says it is in challenging situations like a move when the benefits of the flexible funding support are apparent.

“If I didn’t have this funding, the powers that be would have me waiting six to eight weeks for accessible work and living spaces in our new home. I can’t wait that long, so what I have been able to do is use the funding to help me to have accessible work and living spaces now.”

She says Manawanui does so much more than just help assist with Individualised Funding.

“They’re fierce advocates for the disability sector and deeply understand the needs of their customers. I am like literally the strongest fan of Individualised Funding. It has transformed my life.”