Angelina Giorgio hasn't smiled so much in years.
It's only been a few weeks since she moved into her very own home after spending years stuck in a locked dementia ward.
But her family can't believe how much she's changed already.
Angelina is not elderly, and does not have dementia.
But for the better part of the past five years, the 59-year-old has been stuck, often bed bound, in a secure dementia ward of an aged care home.
She has catatonic schizophrenia and is disabled from a stroke. Her family was told there were no other options for her care in Canberra than a nursing home.
She would lie in her bed for days at a time, taken out for a walk in her wheelchair once a week if she was lucky.
But Angelina's sister-in-law and legal guardian, Tania Giorgio, never stopped fighting for a better life for her.
Last month, Angelina finally moved into a new unit in Kambah, where she has 24-hour support.
Her health and wellbeing have rapidly improved since then, according to Tania.
She's talking, brushing her own teeth and feeding herself. She's even trying her hand at cooking and drawing, with the help of her carers.
Her main request was for the home to be painted her favourite colour - bright pink. Tania talked her down to a pink, white and grey colour scheme.
"I love it," Angelina said of her new home.
Tania has spent years battling bureaucracy for a better quality of life for her sister-in-law.
There were times when she thought she may never succeed.
She finally found an appropriate home to rent through CHC Community Housing earlier this year.
She said the NDIS took some convincing, but eventually agreed to provide the funding Angelina needed to live there.
"We were so worried that Angie would not take well to the transition, but now she is saying she never wants to go back to the nursing home," Tania said.
"It was such an emotional day for us as a family to see how excited Angelina was and how happy she was to have her own home, in a quiet area of Kambah which is so tranquil and peaceful.
"Where once she didn't want to go outside of the nursing home, now she is excited to go for walks with the carers and get fresh air.
"She is smiling and laughing so much that it is hard to believe that this is the same person."
Tania said it was a wonderful example of what happens when the NDIS comes on board and gives someone like her sister-in-law their life back.
She said aged care was not the place for young people like Angelina, and hoped to help others in Canberra find more suitable accommodation.
According to the National Disability Insurance Agency, there are 15 participants with disabilities aged under 65 living in aged care in the ACT.
"It has taken five years to advocate for Angie, in the beginning I knew nothing of the mental health system, and the processes of other government agencies that were supposed to help but didn't," she said.
"I have learnt so much on this journey, there were the good days, the bad days and the days that I wanted to give up.
"It has given me the determination to keep going because I truly believe that no younger person should ever enter a nursing home and live the quality of life that does not support them and I strongly believe that they should never be put into a locked dementia unit when they do not have dementia."
Tania said Angelina still had a long way to go in improving her mental health and mobility.
"But it feels like the positive changes will eventually get better and become Angelina's new way of life, so I will not need to be such a strong force in her life, more just like it should be, me visiting my sister in law and having an enjoyable visit," she said.
CHC Community Housing chief executive Andrew Hannan said he welcomed inquiries about housing for people with disabilities.
"Subject to demand we may in a position to make further investment decisions," he said.
"If people approach us and tell us of their specific needs we can have conversations about bespoke buildings."
