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I’ve been with Anglican Family Care since 2007: first as a Home-based Family Support social worker and then in my current role as Team Leader. I have also practiced social work in the disability sector.
I knew that I wanted to do something that felt worthwhile. I’ve needed support at various times in my life, and valued the difference this has made, so when my partner suggested I would make a decent social worker I looked into it. Once I had had children myself and really realized just how big a job parenting is, and how easy it is to feel out of your depth, I realized that this was the area of social work that I wanted to be involved in. Conveniently, a friend of mine was working here when a job came up and nudged me (repeatedly) to apply!
When I was working directly with parents/caregivers, it was when I started to see parents delight in their children when this wasn’t there much before: telling me about when they had fun with their child, or when they were proud of them and just glowing. This sounds like a little thing, but it can be a sign that things are changing in a positive way for parent/s and child – there is hope that things can be different. It makes me a bit teary even now, when my team talk about seeing it in the families they work with.
Hanging out with my kids (now young adults) and my partner and friends. Op-shopping missions (and K-mart missions to Inver-Vegas). Bingeing Netflix or reading crappy novels (none of that serious stuff for me). Listening to music, trying (and failing) to keep up with what my kids listen to. Playing with our small-dog-who-thinks-he’s big-dog, Alfredo – apparently the only grandchild I will get…
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