“I’ve got more confidence and working has given me money of my own, independence and stability, not just for me but my family too.”
I’ve never had a job and wasn’t comfortable around people. All I wanted was to get a Disability Support Pension from Centrelink and not work at all. I hadn’t really thought much further than that.
I’ve spent my whole life caring for my family and looking after everyone else. When I heard about the Building Family Opportunities program and they told me about some of the stuff you could get into it I thought, maybe now it’s my time.
I got just the help and support I needed through the program, they helped me set some goals. I started with an introductory course, which got me started with some training – it was pretty good, not too scary. I started to think maybe I could do more.
I wanted to get more confidence and be more sociable and I thought maybe some training in hospitality might be good. I tried a Certificate II in Hospitality and I was getting more confident in being with other people and learning new things. This was really starting to open my eyes – maybe I could do something more with my life than just being home.
The next step was work experience – but I needed to do the Barista Accreditation course first. It was really good too; I enjoyed it and met even more people. Then I got a week’s work experience and training on the job in a café, I liked the job and thought I could do it with my new training. A week later the cafe gave me a ‘trial’ and I started my first proper job the next week.
I’ve been there a few months now and I love it. My husband didn’t think I would stick to the hospitality course, but I proved him wrong. My family are really proud of me and everything I’ve done over the past year. I’ve got more confidence and working has given me money of my own, independence and stability, not just for me but my family too. Next I’m going to get my driver’s licence and join an art and craft group.
I’m going to look at doing other courses too – there’s so much interesting stuff to learn!