Getting out of the house
Losing the car is the change people feel hardest, and it is rarely only about the driving. It is the appointment somebody else now has to remember, the shopping that has to be carried in, the chemist that shuts at five.
A lift, or someone who stays?
These look like one request and are two. A lift is a driver: they take you there and they leave. Someone who stays walks in with the person, waits through the appointment, and helps them back out again.
The second is a support worker rather than a driver, and it costs more because it is more. It is also the right answer more often than people expect — particularly for anything medical, where the useful part is frequently somebody else hearing what the doctor said.
Is it paid for?
Often, at least partly. My Aged Care is the government front door for anyone over 65, and the assessment that decides what is subsidised is free. For someone under 65 living with disability, that role belongs to the NDIS.
The assessment is the step people skip, and it is the one that unlocks everything else. It is also slow — weeks, sometimes months — so it is worth starting even if you arrange something privately in the meantime.
What AskFam does and does not do
AskFam works out what you need and points you at services that already exist. It does not employ anyone, does not arrange the work, and takes no fee or commission — from you or from them.
It also has not checked anybody. Where you see a business listed, that is a public listing, not a recommendation. Where somebody offers on a job you posted, that is them describing themselves, in their own words. Ask for what matters to you, and take your time about it.