Why Jacqui chose a career supporting older people
Jacqui’s worked with Enliven for around 16 years. She started as a Support Worker in Hastings, then became Team Leader in Havelock North for six years, including after-hours support. Today, she’s loving being back in a Support Worker role, “best move ever, no stress, and I still have all that good insight into how things operate and why things need to be done.”
From pack house to purpose
Before joining Enliven, Jacqui spent 17 years in pack house quality control, working mainly with apples, and also asparagus and squash. The seasonal nature of that work meant long hours and uncertainty. “Sometimes I’d work 60 hours a week, 12 hours a day, and then at Christmas time, right when you need it, there’s no work at all. Work was also weather dependent. Working at Enliven has taken that anxiety away, being able to plan your life.” Earlier in her career Jacqui also gained excellent English skills as a shorthand typist.
Jacqui first thought about working with older people after watching how a hospital team cared for her dad. After he passed away and her pack house job couldn’t be re-joined in the middle of the season, she saw an ad in the newspaper for Enliven. “I thought it would be nice to work with older people and give something back, from what others had done for my dad.” The part-time permanent role was attractive, “so you’ve got work all year round, regular income, that’s how you can budget over those Christmas months.”
Getting more confident and finding joy on the road
Jacqui had to adjust when she first started at Enliven, “because I used to be such a shy person, initially it was quite nerve-wracking meeting all those strangers and so many new people.” She never used to like moving around for work, “I once declined a role to move around for the auditors, I just liked to stay in one place, and didn’t want to travel.” At Enliven, she really enjoyed moving around during covid lockdowns because there was only a few Team Leaders in the office, “so I was the ‘gopher’, had my phone with me, and had to get documentation, PPE and go and deliver it. It took forever to get across the motorway! Now I’m travelling everywhere for work.”
Jacqui finds she can enjoy life more working at Enliven, “I love seeing nature while I drive around for work, like the cherries in blossom, beautiful views on a nice day, or full moons, sunsets, and learning about the different lives of the people I meet.” She remembers missing out on family life and summer during her pack house busy times, often from January to April and then extended cool store tasks after that.
Lasting impressions from Enliven Older People clients
She gets to see glimpses of lots of different people’s lives, “whether their house is big or small, you can see their histories, some have been great artists, some are full of cross stitch or tapestries or jigsaw puzzles. It’s a reflection of them and how diverse everyone is.” She values what each older person adds to our community, “one client is very cheerful and she’s a great listener, she asks you questions and remembers to ask you about it when you go back the next time.”
One client’s talent stands out, “their garden is absolutely fabulous! You can’t find them sometimes and you go out back and there they are with her watering can, pulling a weed.” Jacqui says clients teach you patience, “one client used to do ballet and could bend down and touch her toes. I thought, I can’t even touch my toes now!” Some clients live with dementia but their bodies are still strong, “we’d be doing well if we could do what some of our older people are doing at their age.”
A saying on a client’s wall has had a lasting impact on Jacqui – ‘if it’s going to be, it’s up to me’. She reflects on what this means for her flexible approach as a Support Worker, “it’s not your role to put your own ways of doing things onto someone else, you can’t fix everybody. You can just support. There are some people for example who have quite unique ways of putting their clothes on and off. But it works for them, there’s no one way!”
Jacqui says her clients are full of interesting stories. “It’s a good moment when you watch a person finally be able to do something they’ve been trying to achieve. Very rarely do you ever find a client with the negative ‘poor me’ attitude, no matter how or what their conditions are, they’re always so positive.”
A job that feels like family
Jacqui’s day to day is full of variety, mostly medication control, personal cares, hanging washing, heating up Meals on Wheels or frozen meals, and sometimes peeling and chopping veggies for a client who cooks themselves. She goes to the gym to maintain her strength and prevent injuries. She really looks forward to Wednesday team meetings and her favourite roster day is when she gets to enjoy a cuppa at the Summerset café during her break. “Compared to what I used to do, this work doesn’t feel hard, it’s a job that I could do until I retired. There’s nothing I do at work that you wouldn’t have done before for your own family.”
She feels supported at Enliven, “whatever I’ve got on, they sort of work with you to accommodate. In all my years I’ve never had any leave declined, we’ve got health insurance, I’ve never had any issues whatsoever.” She appreciates the learnings too, “it’s such a good thing the training we get about all the topics related to the industry, and as we get older a lot of those things are quite relevant to us as well.”
“At Enliven I’m not just a number, there’s been additional support outside doing just a job. You begin to feel part of a family and I’ve made good long-term friendships. It’s got better and better over the years at worker support. There’s nothing to complain about at all in this organisation and if there is just talk to someone nicely and they can fix it for you. I’ve never had any issues whatsoever. You could ever find another organisation, especially a nonprofit organisation, that does so much not only for the clients but for the staff.”
Join the Enliven team
You can become a Support Worker too! Working at Enliven offers a rewarding career with variety and new challenges. You don’t need previous experience for some of the roles. At Enliven you’ll feel supported, grow, and spend your work time with interesting people in our community. Click here to see current job openings and apply today.
