“Every week someone says ‘thank you’ and it makes me feel so good. If I won the lottery, I think I would still do it.”
These are the words of a grateful Community Connections participant, who after being largely housebound is now benefiting from being a volunteer in not one but two different roles.
Ashley* credits Lutheran Care’s Community Connections team for helping her grow the confidence and the practical skills she needed to reconnect with her community as a volunteer.
Ashley lives alone and was experiencing some mental health challenges which meant she didn’t leave the home often and received only a few visits from her adult children.
Our Community Connections worker sat down with Ashley to find out about her goals and the barriers that were holding her back from achieving them.
Ashley shared that for Centrelink purposes, she was required to volunteer, which was something she was interested in doing. However, the administrative requirements to sign up as a volunteer, including organising photo ID, were overwhelming and something Ashley felt unable to organise independently.
The Community Connections worker provided practical assistance to help Ashley get her ID. They also linked Ashley with information about different volunteering opportunities in the local area, and spoke to her about what was a good fit based on her skills, interests and location.
Ashley applied for a volunteer role at an Op Shop in the Adelaide Hills, close to her home, and was so pleased to be accepted. The volunteering has been a wonderful experience.
“I have got lots of friends now,” Ashley says.
As well as catching up with the fellow volunteers instore, Ashley is also a member of a social Facebook group and has been invited to go out for coffee.
Ashley’s confidence and responsibility level in the Op Shop has grown to the point that when the manager was away, Ashley assisted with training a new volunteer.
Following the success of this role, she decided to put herself out there even further, signing up for another volunteer role, this time in a food pantry at a community centre.
This was over and above Centrelink requirements but something Ashley wanted to do as she identified the wellbeing benefits of more social connection.
Ashley is very thankful to Community Connections and her worker for their support, and passed on that her adult children are also very appreciative and happy that their mother has formed friendships and has a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
The Community Connections program offers short-term, tailored support, to help people at risk of isolation to gain the confidence, skills and referrals they need to become an active part of the local community and experience the health and wellbeing offshoots of inclusion and connection.
Lutheran Care delivers the program, funded by the South Australian Department of Human Services, in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley regions.
For more information about eligibility and to get in touch with the Community Connections team, click here.
*Name, some details and image have been changed to protect client’s privacy.