About Us

"Us" is a bit of an exaggeration. An aspirational goal, if you like.

The reality is that "Us" is "Me".

Drop Bear Care is my personal passion project. Built solo from my bedroom.

It's been a long hard slog to get this far. But I think the dream is worth it. Support workers deserve better than what the system currently offers.

I'm Zac. A disgruntled support worker.

Being a support worker has been a very rewarding experience.

I make a difference in people’s lives.

It has opened my eyes to the many different ways in which disability can strike and turn the basics of life into a daily struggle.

I am now incredibly grateful that I've had the luxury of taking so many simple abilities for granted for so long.

Along the way, I've also been inspired by some clients who have taken their disabilities in their stride and made more of their lives than most able-bodied people. Including me. Here's looking at you, Dave!(opens in a new tab)

I really resent the commissions that are charged by the platforms that put me in contact with my clients.

Their meeting-place platforms are an important and necessary part of the process, but the ongoing nature of the commissions is exorbitant.

It was a constant grumble that I shared with many other support workers for years...

Until the spark of an idea to do something about it!

I met my wife on a dating site.

And not once did I pay a commission to go on a date! Laughable as that idea is, it is the status quo in the Australian support industry.

The aged and disabled communities are often vulnerable and deserve a higher level of protection and user screening than dating sites typically offer, but the basic concept of two parties using a platform to meet each other is exactly the same. The motivations for meeting each other might be completely different, but the core service offered in both industries has more in common than the details that differentiate them.

And the dating platforms’ up-front pricing model is so much more reasonable!

Why can't support meeting place platforms use a transparent up-front pricing model instead of the perpetual commissions?

... and then the work began. I've been head down, bum up for a couple of years learning how to build this.

I had a background in Windows programming from 30 years ago. But the modern web tooling was a completely new world.

It's been a fun and challenging journey coming to grips with the ins and outs of building Drop Bear Care, using a completely new set of tools.

Along the way I've had a lot of fights with my AI programming assistant. But we've ultimately made a good team and created something well beyond what either of us could have done on our own.

I'm proud of the backend infrastructure and functionality that I've been able to put together.

But this is just the beginning, and I am excited to be taking this next step and seeing my baby take its first steps into the world and starting the journey to maturity.

To be completely honest, that depends a lot on you!

I’ve got big dreams for what Drop Bear Care can become… and more features that I would love to have as a support worker.

But whether I continue to build or not depends on whether the support community shares my dream of a commission-free support industry.

So, get behind me! Let’s make this dream a reality!

For some of the ideas in the pipeline, check out the roadmap.

And make sure to let me know how YOU would like to see Drop Bear Care evolve!

Drop Bear Care was my idea… but it’s your community!