Support Worker at Unique Community Services
You’ve got to be confident, a great listener, compassionate, and to be able to give everything what you can to a role of supporting.” – Paula, support worker.
If you could spend just a few minutes with this fantastic person, you would instantly catch her emotion and passion and how she glows when speaking not about her job but about her vocation, the thing that gives her a sense of purpose.
“Being a support worker is not like going to work. It’s like going to look after your own family and to give them the needs and everything that comes with the care work. I don’t ever think I don’t want to go to work. I look forward to going to work.”
She’s been doing her dream job for 25 years. And that is 25 years filled with empathy, strength and beauty made possible through simple gestures. Every day. Every night. But especially at night. And she doesn’t bother with it. Because she even found out how to embrace these night shifts and make them work for her.
“I never thought I could have done waking nights, but now I’ve done them. I don’t think I could ever go back to working days because in the summer, I spend the time in the garden and get to see the sunshine. Whereas if it was working days, I wouldn’t have the time to go, and I’d spend time in the sun.”
In the realm of support work, where compassion and dedication converge, stories of profound transformation often unfold. During our conversation, Paula shared examples of how she played a pivotal role in empowering an individual to achieve a personal goal, illustrating the profound impact that genuine care and support can have on personal growth.
“There was a lady, she didn’t want to go out of her role, and she kept saying, I will one day, I will one day. And one day I went and she said, I think I’m ready. I said, Ready for what? She said, Ready to do a shop with you. I said, Well, if we get out and you’re nervous, we can come straight back. It’s not a problem. We get out and we’ve done a bit of shopping. When she gets home, she says, I’ve had the best day.”
Our support workers are our heroes, the compassionate guides, and the advocates who contribute to the creation of a more inclusive, empathetic, and supportive society. Their impact reverberates through the lives of those they support, shaping a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and live with dignity and purpose.
