Ana has always strived to be open to new opportunities, adapt to her environment, and develop her skills. Her passion for supporting people with a disability grew from having a 3-year-old niece with Down syndrome, “I’m very motivated to provide the right service and support in the disability industry whilst living in Australia.”
Her career with Sunnyfield started in 2011 as a Community Support Worker. Shortly after, she gained confidence and accepted a Team Leader role in one of Sunnyfield’s Shared Living homes. Connecting with the clients during their daily routines, creating a person-centered environment, and working alongside a supportive and understanding team helped Ana enjoy her role the most.
After some time off to care for her growing family, Ana returned to Sunnyfield in 2020 and decided she wanted to take on new opportunities and challenges. She jumped into the casual pool for Production in Sunnyfield’s Employment Services. Ana built up her experience and developed her skills over the next few months, and then in March 2021, she became the new Employment Support Trainer (EST). Recently Ana was promoted to Employment Services Officer and is very excited about her new role. She boasts of the fantastic support she gets from her mentor, Employee Services Officer Danyelle Dowden “This makes a big difference working with people who care so much about people with disability and have the same beliefs, values, love and duty of carer.”
What an adventure!
Ana loves her role, guiding the supported employees to achieve their career goals, adjusting jobs to suit their skills, and building teamwork. “Every one of the clients is special, and everyone has a skill which is an important part of the cogs which helps run Production and work.”
A highlight of Ana’s time spent at Sunnyfield was attending the Key Word Sign (KWS) workshop last year. She loves being able to better communicate with non-verbal supported employees.
“I am very proud to be part of an amazing organisation! I’ve never worked in this industry in Brazil, where I am from. Sunnyfield gave, and continues to give me many tools and opportunities to grow.”
