About

I feel that there are so many missed opportunities for people to connect with their interests and others in their community but even with loving family and friends, schedules don't always align so I wanted to work in that space of supporting people to access and connect. To some extent I have been doing that for most of my life as I am known by my family and friends to be someone that they can count on, not just for "the fun stuff" but also to help when things are hard to manage alone, helping with things like doing dishes, tidying up, shopping etc. For me, building a genuine connection is more important than the activities. I enjoy following the flow of conversations and like to give space for people to discuss topics of interest to them. I also understand that sometimes people want to enjoy quiet company. For me, genuine connection is more important than whatever activity we might be doing together so I'll try my best to get to know the person's preferences, style of communication and what they need and want in each situation, asking questions and checking my understanding as much as needed. I have been a carer for people with depression and anxiety and other health struggles. Professionally: I have 8 years of experience working in various roles at Lifeline ( paid and volunteering). My work experience also includes running mental health education and suicide prevention workshops. I'm working towards coaching qualifications through course work, practice with peers, and volunteering. I am a Mental Health First Aider, and I am a Licenced MHFA Instructor. Tell us how you will share one of your skills or hobbies to help someone in our community. I'll be honest about my level of skill and knowledge in that particular interest or hobby, and double check if the client is interested in spending some of our time together on that, and explore with them how I can support them to achieve what they want to. For some interests or hobbies it might be straight forward, easily accessible and easy to do spontaneously, or for other interests/hobbies we might have to plan ahead and research to find groups or classes or events ,transport options, accessibility/accommodation requirements etc. If the client wants to learn a skill that I have, I am happy to offer to show and teach step by step. We can discuss preferred ways of learning plus adjust things as we go if the client needs things to be shown multiple times, or more slowly, or if there are certain steps that aren't physically possible and we might need to find their workaround etc. It's all about patience and progress, not perfection. What is a quote that inspires you? Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it, Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it (generally attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe).

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Received both doses of COVID-19 vaccination & booster