Support Workers Albert and Diana work to improve lives – one client at a time
It’s a wonderful thing to see our clients and team members inspiring each other.
Ask Support Worker Albert about his clients and the admiration is palpable. “I've got so much respect for our clients. They're the people that we're really here for. I just love everything that I do for them,” Albert said.
“Sometimes the job is different, but I enjoy all aspects of it. I wouldn't be anywhere else really.”
Albert’s wife, Diana, is also a support worker in Queensland and feels the same way. “I love my job, my clients, some of them are like a grandmother to me and I wouldn't have it any other way.
“We have a lot of fun together when we're out, and when I'm cleaning or whatever I'm doing for them, I always have a joke,” Diana said. “They thank me for that.”
“We have a lot of fun together when we're out, and when I'm cleaning or whatever I'm doing for them, I always have a joke,” Diana said. “They thank me for that.”
Albert agrees. “It’s normally the little things we do for them that they are so grateful for,” he said. “It's good to put that little smile on their face because a lot of our clients are on their own.”
Hilda is one of the clients Albert relishes assisting regularly, providing domestic assistance in her home. “It's lovely to have the house cleaned all in one day instead of doing it a room at a time,” 91-year-old Hilda said. “And the washing and hanging out of the clothes. Occasionally I can get the bed made if need be.”
Hilda also receives Lite n’ Easy meals and in-home physiotherapy. “I get physio and a back rub. I tell them come back when I wake up,” Hilda jokes about how good it would be to have it every day.
Albert and other support workers take Hilda to see her 94-year-old sister nearby, and to her craft group. “It’s so wonderful because they know how to handle me,” Hilda said. “They can see where I'm going to trip before I do.
And they watch every little thing and just take my handbag off me and put it on their arm and put their arm out for me to hold onto them. I can never thank integratedliving enough for the way they teach their team.”
Craft is a powerful thread in Hilda’s life, and she shares her skillful crocheting and knitting with some very special people and places.
Hilda knits beanies for premature babies and babies with cancer, giving them to the local hospital. “The wool is as soft as anything,” Hilda said.
Hilda knits beanies for premature babies and babies with cancer, giving them to the local hospital. “The wool is as soft as anything,” Hilda said.
“It is just so beautiful and when I've finished with them, I kiss them goodbye and say go and find a little head to keep warm.”