About Us
Let's close the space between service provider and human support.
The Heart Worx Story
At Heart Worx, this work is personal - and participant-led. We’re still carers, still navigating our own recovery, and still holding NDIS nominee roles in our families. We know what it feels like to fight for plans that don’t meet the mark - and how different life feels when support finally clicks. Heart Worx was built out of that reality - not from a boardroom, but from lived experience that taught us one clear truth: the person with a disability is the expert in their own story.
That belief shapes every service, every shift, every worker match. Safety, choice, and connection aren’t extras - they’re the standard.
Why We Exist
We exist because safe, consistent support is still too rare.
We’ve been carers, advocates, and family members - and we’ve stood alongside people left outside of systems that were meant to help. Those experiences showed us both the harm when support isn’t there, and the relief when it finally works.
We carry that truth into everything we build. At Heart Worx, we don’t see people as roles or problems to fix. We see whole humans who deserve safety, consistency, and connection.
Not here to replace community - but to help begin it.
What Guides Us
Our work has never been about just showing up.
It’s about being dependable, intentional, and human.
Every shift, call, and plan review is a chance to leave someone feeling steadier, not more shut down.
Presence matters.
Showing up consistently can be the one moment in someone’s week that says, you’re not invisible.
Choice builds trust.
Trauma takes control away; support should give it back - in small things as much as big ones.
Matching is everything.
The right worker means safety, shared ground, and staying power.
Human before system.
We pace with people, not with paperwork.
Professionalism doesn’t mean being stiff. For us it means: clear and kind communication, respecting boundaries, and knowing when to pause instead of push.
The Frameworks We Work By
We don’t use “lived experience” as a buzzword. For us, it’s a discipline - a way of working that shapes how we design, deliver, and hold support.
Our frameworks blend:
Lived Expertise
Turning personal experience into structured, ethical practice.
Trauma-Informed Care
Recognising nervous system limits and meeting people where they are.
Neuro-Affirming Practice
Respecting different ways of processing, communicating, and finding rhythm.
Recovery Orientation
Holding hope, pacing goals, and building networks that last.
Our Lived Experience Practice
At Heart Worx, lived experience isn’t a marketing line. It’s a discipline - a responsibility we carry with care, guided by three truths:
- Lived experience isn’t something to use casually. For us, it’s a practice, a hard-won expertise, and a powerful way of connecting and understanding each other.
- Insight doesn’t need exposure - disclosure is always consent-led.
- Experience shapes how we listen, match, and support.
In practice, this means:
- Responding to shutdowns with curiosity, not pressure.
- Matching workers thoughtfully.
- Designing recovery coaching that allows for slowness, rupture, and repair.
Full Lived Experience Guidelines
Direct perspectives on disability, distress, systems, or survival, including:
- Living with disability (psychosocial, physical, sensory, cognitive)
- Navigating the NDIS or mental health systems personally or with a loved one
- Experiencing shutdowns, misdiagnosis, coercion, or support fatigue
- Proximity-based experience: walking alongside family or community members in care
We don’t ask for stories. We don’t require disclosure. Insight doesn’t need exposure. Sharing is always consent-led.
We support our workers to hold what they’ve lived with care, through:
- Peer-aware onboarding
- Reflective supervision
- Boundaried, trauma-informed practice
- Clear on-shift boundaries (e.g., phones only for safety/coordination)
- Policies that protect both worker and participant
Shaped by:
- Founders’ and team lived perspectives (psychosocial disability, caring, recovery)
- Supporting others while walking our own recovery
- Study in trauma, regulation, peer work ethics, reflective practice
- Policies and rhythms built around survivable, safe practice
Grounded in national peer workforce guidelines, trauma-informed care frameworks, and research on regulation and relational safety.
- Thoughtful matching
- Responding to shutdowns/system fatigue with curiosity
- Recovery coaching that allows slowness, rupture, and repair
- Language that supports rather than scripts
- Supervision that acknowledges emotional labour
Lived experience is a responsibility. It shapes our tone, our practice, and the way we hold space.
We’re not just building a service; we’re building a workforce shaped by lived expertise and trauma-informed practice. We value peer workers, neurodivergent professionals, carers, and people walking their own recovery. These voices don’t just belong in the room — they change the conversation.
Using lived experience well requires reflection, skill, and support. We equally prioritise trauma-informed knowledge, professional development, and steady supervision — so every team member, regardless of background, understands how to support with insight and care.
Who We Are Behind Heart Worx
Heart Worx was built by Jess and Riley Schafer-Wilson - partners in life and in practice.
Before Heart Worx, we were already living what we now lead. Both of us have been carers and advocates within our own families, and we’ve seen how the right support shapes a person’s safety. We know the NDIS system well - not as participants, but from years of standing alongside family members, workers, and teams navigating it every day.
Riley
Riley brings a carer-lived perspective and over 15 years in frontline and leadership roles - including Support Worker, Group Home Manager, LAC, and four years as an LAC Team Leader. He focuses on creating steady systems, supporting workers, and ensuring participants feel the benefit of consistent practice.
Jess
Jess brings family care and mental health lived experience, shaped by years of supporting family while also navigating her own recovery. She focuses on trauma-informed practice, participant voice, and keeping Heart Worx grounded in everyday realities. Her professional background includes work as a Support Worker, Support Coordinator, and Psychosocial Recovery Coach.
Together, we built Heart Worx to close the space between “service provider” and “human support.” From the start, our drive has been the same: to fight for fairness, to make sure plans actually meet people’s needs, and to hold the line that every participant’s rights must be upheld.
Closing Note
At Heart Worx, everything we do points to one clear aim: support that feels safe, steady, and human.
