Kristy Elvery spent more than a decade in pathology dealing with people filled with fear, anxiety, and judgement.
Now she is greeted with “bright smiles, genuine hellos, and open hearts”.
In June last year, Kristy quit her job taking blood samples from patients to join Endeavour Foundation as a support worker in Noosa, enabling people with a disability to live their best lives.
“For the first time in a very long time I am excited to come to work,” she said.
“From the moment I walk through the door at Endeavour, I am greeted by smiles and hellos and elbow bumps from the people we support. Whether they’re in the middle of a conversation or a task, no matter what, I am greeted with open hearts, as ready and excited as I am to experience the day ahead.”
As with most jobs, Kristy did not mind the pathology tasks she had to perform, but the people management side of things were sometimes a challenge.
When busy, she faced impatient people, and in quiet times she would sit alone in a tiny room with zero human interaction.
“I just began to just hate the thought of going to work,” Kristy said.
“I would come home and be miserable and my personality is usually very upbeat. My husband asked what my passion was, and I said I would love to work in the disability sector, and he said, ‘Well why don’t you then?’.”
A career change aged 40 with two children was challenging but Kristy was successful in her application for a support worker role at Endeavour Foundation’s Noosaville Learning and Lifestyle day service, helping people with an intellectual disability improve their daily living skills, community participation, learning, and relationships.
“I was as nervous as hell because when you do something for so long it’s confronting to make the change,” she said.
“But I made the right decision. I had 11 years of experiencing mostly resistance from people, and now I experience resilience. Eleven years of apologising to people for the long wait, and now I stand every day in a roomful of the most patient people.”
Kristy encouraged anyone with a good heart, a caring nature, and a strong worth ethic who was prepared to assist others, to consider being a support worker.
As an added incentive, Endeavour Foundation is offering thousands of dollars in free training to attract support workers to the industry during Covid-19.
The foundation, which already offers to fund a $4000 Certificate III in Individual Support for existing staff, announced it would extend the offer to all new support workers at the completion of a probationary period.
Endeavour Foundation CEO David Swain said workers who completed the course would not be required to repay the cost of training if they left the organisation in the hope they continued to work with people with disabilities.
“This is all about providing another layer of safety for people with a disability who are supported by Endeavour Foundation, and about making an investment into the disability sector as a whole,” he said.
“If a support worker chooses to leave the organisation after the training, we are hopeful they will continue to use the skills and experience gained here to help people in the disability sector.”
Endeavour’s move to bolster its 3000-strong workforce comes as the residential aged care sector continues to deal with staff shortages and the impacts of the latest Covid outbreak.
Support workers are frontline employees who help people with a disability in homes and the community with making meals, assisting with personal care, and taking part in community activities.
The work is ideally suited to individuals who demonstrate values and ethics aligned to a career in disability support services.
No experience or qualifications are required to become a support worker and Endeavour Foundation provides on-the-job training and ongoing coaching.
A ‘Cert III’ is a national qualification that recognises a worker’s ability to care for people in home or the community and is a requirement in health care settings.
For more information go to careers.endeavour.com.au or call 1800 112 112.
