Anna registered with our atWork Australia Geelong office in May of 2019, 12 months since receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer. While spending most of her time focusing on her health, treatment and recovery, Anna continued to work one day per week as a retail assistant at a local gift shop called ‘Wish Fish’.
Anna loved her job very much and wanted to keep her weekly shift but was eager to find more hours of work so that she could get some structure and normality back into her life.
When first meeting with her Disability Employment Services Job Coach Shareece, she advised Anna that atWork Australia was willing to offer her employer an internal monetary grant if her employer was willing to offer her with a minimum of 15 hours per week. Given that Anna wanted to keep her current job it appeared to be the logical next step to take.
After discussing the details of the grant with Anna’s employer they decided to increase her hours. Linda from Wish Fish says, “Thank you for giving my small business the opportunity to keep Anna on, and (with the help of the internal wage subsidy grant) this is hopefully something Wish Fish can afford in the future.”
With the help of atWork Australia, Anna started working two days per week at Wish Fish, just 3 weeks after meeting with her Job Coach. The best news of all, however, is that in the same week, Anna also went in for a 12-month breast screening check-up and got the all-clear on her health.
Anna is thrilled to be working increased hours at Wish Fish and continues to work with her Job Coach in an attempt to gain more hours in a secondary job. Shareece has been helping Anna to create an up-to-date resume and cover letter and has assisted Anna in applying for some casual waitress roles. She has an interview next week at the local bowls club where I’m sure she will be successful.
Shareece says, “It’s been a pleasure to work with Anna and her employer Wish Fish to see a positive outcome, a direct result of the internal grant offered by atWork Australia.’’