Gabrielle has lived her life facing much adversity. When she was younger, she had been in a horrific motorcycle accident which had left her with severe back injuries and a portion of her spine fused.
Gabrielle also lives with schizophrenia, which also caused her to turn to alcohol and other substances as a coping mechanism.
As a result, Gabrielle was living with many barriers that were keeping her from finding meaningful and sustainable employment.
Gabrielle came to atWork Australia supported by her father, as she was extremely nervous around meeting new people and could not advocate for herself.
Job Coach, Lauren, from the atWork Australia Mandurah office met with Gabrielle to talk about her needs and to support her in finding good work.
Firstly, they began by working together to create a presentable resume which included Gabrielle’s certificates and prior experience.
The next steps were to work on Gabrielle’s confidence and interview skills. Due to her anxiety, Gabrielle was unable to attend group sessions to work on job skills. Instead, Gabrielle worked with Lauren, one-on-one, slowly gaining belief in herself with each session.
Lauren’s experience and connections as a Job Coach lead her to already know of a company who she felt would be the perfect employer for Gabrielle.
Lauren contacted a cleaning services provider in Mandurah to let her know about Gabrielle.
The company have been using atWork Australia’s services for over eight years and knew if Lauren were recommending Gabrielle as an employee, it would be worth interviewing her.
The company met with Lauren and Gabrielle and was immediately impressed, offering Gabrielle the position with an immediate start.
Gabrielle has not missed a beat in her new employment.
Gabrielle’s employer says, “Gabrielle is enthusiastic and willing to learn. She takes on board all instructions and is improving all the time.”
Lauren gets great satisfaction from seeing how good work really helps people change their lives, and will continue to support Gabrielle as she settles back in.
“Another life changed by the independence and accomplishment achieved with employment,” says Lauren.
atWork Australia help people find the right job for the right person. To see how we can help you or someone you know find meaningful work, call 1300 080 856 or enquire online today.