Disability Services Blog

Mary’s caring role continues after work

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 02:47:27 +0000

Mary Bourke is a busy woman. Working in Carer Support and Support Coordination (NDIS) for VMCH, she travels from her home in Euroa to Shepparton and Wangaratta to help others thrive within their communities, despite their personal challenges.

She thoroughly enjoys the work that she does, especially the time she spends with the carers.

“I think the world of them. They are resilient, passionate and honest about their situation. They welcome you into their lives. They tell you their most wonderful and most challenging moments and they trust you with all this, a complete stranger.

“I love this job because it’s about people, it’s about reality and we are able to build rapport and do something that makes a difference.”

When Mary isn’t working with carers, or NDIS support services, Mary wears a third hat, which is again focused on working with people. In her spare time, she supports a number of young people through Berry Street and has been a respite carer for over 15 years.

“I don’t have kids, so I trust them with keeping me informed! What can I say, who doesn’t love kids? They stay for a weekend, sometimes a week, it depends on their needs at the time. I feel like I am giving back for the wonderful childhood I had.

“Kids are honest, fun and annoying at times. But they keep you honest.”

Mary keeps herself, and her young companions very busy. She often takes them to the library, swimming, and plays games with them, “like UNO, but I always lose…”

“We watch DVDs, visit playgrounds, the stuff that average families do. I like to tire the kids out, so they sleep after a good night story!”

Mary says the kids like coming back, because of her whippet Maggie, a rescue dog. She thinks that the kids can relate to her, as a nervous, but gentle dog.

If that wasn’t enough, Mary also started, and continues to work for, the Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) group in Euroa. Together with another woman, they started the group about five years ago.

“Life is very tough for some and we are a very wealthy country,” she says. “We need to exercise compassion. It could be us one day running from something. I just don’t understand our stance on those less fortunate than us.”

So why does Mary do all that she does, and why others give our time, effort and care, for the others?

“It’s fun. It feels good and brings rewards that you can’t buy. You learn heaps about yourself as well, that’s if you’re brave enough to hear those lessons!”

Meet Disability Services Team Leader Chelsey Godenzi

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 03:26:04 +0000

At VMCH, we couldn’t achieve what we do without the hard work, dedication and care of our fantastic staff. In celebration of our homegrown heroes, we’re excited to take you out to regional Victoria, where we say hello to Chelsey Godenzi. We hope you enjoy this short interview with our Team Leader for Disability Services in Wangaratta Team Leader and are inspired by her story.

I’ve been in this role for six months. I manage three Coordinators and together we lead a variety of programs looking after people with disabilities. One of these is Pathways to Possibilities, which helps adults transitioning from school to adulthood, linking them with work and volunteer opportunities. Some of our clients are also studying to do their Certificate in Education here at VMCH at the same time as the program is running. The client is number one in everything we do. Appreciating their difference and ensuring their likes and dislikes are respected is paramount.

Our programs offer a great social network. On Fridays they have outings planned. Staff support clients who are heading out and about in the community. We also have afternoon activities that we run for kids with disability, designed for social skills development, emotional regulation and role modelling for kids. We develop and encourage socialising through group activities like cooking, bowling and swimming – and everyone usually has a great time!

Our fully booked school holidays program ended last month. With up to 25 kids attending each day session, a huge effort is put in by the team to make this happen. It was great to hear positive feedback from the families of the kids who took part. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

Prior to working at VMCH, I worked at DHSS and the NDIA. I have a lot of experience in the sector. What has always driven me is the opportunity to provide support in order to give clients choice and control. It’s also about the importance of putting something meaningful in their day and supporting my staff to promote and deliver this human-centred approach. I’m passionate about people with disability having that choice and control in their life and for us to be respectful of everyone’s differences.

Supporting others is the main reason I entered this field to begin with. It’s not just about supporting those who have a disability. As a Team Leader, you get a chance to share your knowledge with those who are new to support work. I love nurturing my staff to develop and grow in their roles.”

The training I undertook for my role is…

A Bachelor in Community Development and Counselling at Monash.

My favourite aspect of my job is…

Receiving feedback… whether good or bad. If it isn’t great, it’s a lesson. We can build on it for next time to ensure the future experience is good one. If it’s good, well great. There’s nothing like hearing from clients that they had a fantastic day – it makes it all worthwhile.

One of the ways to overcome challenges in my job is…

Ensuring you listen actively to a person about what it is they enjoy. Proving you have listened and valued what they said is the best strategy to implement change. Here’s an example.

A young person I work with loves action figurines. Last week, he had a meltdown. As soon as I said the name of his figurine, his behaviour changed. It was about a shift in perspective; about him being able to regulate himself and extract himself from the moment. It worked! He was able to get back on the bus and join in with the activities.

When I’m not at work you will find me…

With my three sons at home. My eldest boy has autism. He’s due to start high school very soon, which means lots of changes. I’m happy to say that the boys are proud that their mum works with disabled kids and always want to hear about what’s going on at work.

Meet our passionate Lifestyle team

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 02:41:04 +0000

Some of Sarah’s favourite memories include the times she visited her nan at the aged care residence where she lived, playing games with her, and entertaining her, ensuring she had a bit of fun in her day.

During one of her visits in 2014, Sarah was approached by the Lifestyle Coordinator, David, who told her that she should consider Lifestyle as a career.

“I didn’t even know it was a job!” laughed Sarah. “So, I looked up the course (Certificate IV Leisure and Health), and the next thing I was doing my placement with David which was so fun.”

Now, Sarah is the Lifestyle Coordinator at VMCH Wantirna Aged Care Residence, and David, now retired, commences his role as a Lifestyle volunteer with Sarah in 2017.

David, who previously worked for Telstra for 21 years before he changed career paths now volunteers because “it’s more care, and less responsibility.” He is also very passionate about the time he spends with the elderly.

“David has such great ideas,” Sarah says. “And being a male, he can understand what our male residents are interested in. We always get a big crowd for David’s quizzes.”

David understands that men are generally less social than women. So, he runs a quiz with questions that are tailored to the residents, depending on their personal interests, previous careers, or nationality.

“One of our residents was a chemist,” said David. “I’ll tailor questions for him, like what the elemental symbol is for iron. We also have a big car enthusiast, so I ask questions about driving championships. I also try to fit a couple of Dutch questions in!”

This highlights what David and Sarah believe is the most important part of their job. Knowing the residents.
Wantirna is a 96-bed residence. And Sarah and David know each of those residents, where their rooms are, and what their interests are.

According to Sarah, they believe it important to get to know what the residents like, enjoy and are interested in, and they plan their activities around that.

“That’s how we get people to join in because they just won’t if it’s not connected to them in some way.

“In this job, you have to be dedicated. You have to listen and get to learn about the residents as much as possible. A lot of them love to have a chat, and you need to find the time to be able to do that. That’s how you learn about them.”

David agrees wholeheartedly.

“Volunteering is amazing. You get to meet new people all the time and hear about their lives. That generation have so many stories, they’ve seen World War II, the Depression. They’re known as the silent generation, which is a shame because they have seen some amazing things and have great stories to tell.”

David says he is an introvert.

“But I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter if you look like an idiot, by dressing up and acting a fool. You bring joy to their life, and you have to be prepared to laugh at yourself.”

Sarah agrees and says that David brings so much joy to the residence with his wide range of outfits for every occasion, including his yearly stint as Santa, or his bright yellow suit that he wears for Daffodil Day.

“Seeing them laugh and smile is the best. And at the end of an event, they’ll say ‘thank you for inviting me’ which is so unnecessary. But it’s great that they have such a good time.”

Meet our staff… Harley Dalgleish

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 01:00:00 +0000

Harley is our Regional Manager of Lifestyle and Respite for Victoria’s north-west.

Harley’s passion for sport saw him coach young people with disabilities, just after finishing high school. He loved it and many years later he is enjoying a rewarding and interesting leadership role in disability services, based in Wangaratta.

Tell me a bit about your role at VMCH?

I look after our NDIS clients and programs in Victoria’s regional north and west. We cover from Wodonga and all the way to Horsham. Our services include direct support and support coordination. We run programs for people with disability that reflect their interests and goals.

We started offering services in this region in January 2018. Now we have about 180 people receiving support from us as part of their NDIS plan. We also support 1,400 carers.

What do you enjoy about working at VMCH?

One of the things that I’m passionate about is developing programs with community input and VMCH has been supportive of that. This organisation shares my belief that we create programs with the individual’s input and not around what we think the individual needs.

What’s the biggest myth or misconception about people with disability that you come across?

The biggest misconception, I think, is the belief by some people that people with disability won’t be able to do certain things without even giving it a chance. What we need to do is look at things from the perspective of the people we support.

I prefer to say to myself and my team that they will do it, and they will do it in their time.

What’s your future wish for the people we support in disability services?

My future wish doesn’t really count. I want their wishes to come true and not mine. I want them to reach their goals, whatever that is.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I become a dad and a husband. I’ve got two young girls and my wife. Just being in that moment with my girls and make sure I don’t forget who they are. I also have a little hobby farm and I like to potter around there, and I like playing sport.