“I want to be able to advocate for people with disabilities to be able to access the community safely, be treated fairly, and have the same freedom as anyone else”
Determination is a powerful thing. Combine it with passion and hard work and you get someone like Karen. For the past two and half years, Karen has been putting in the hard yards to complete her Certificate III in Community Services with TAFE NSW. Karen has been attending Sunnyfield Maitland Community Services hub for 4 years and thoroughly enjoyed being with others and offering assistance. That’s when she decided to take what she loves and turn it into something more meaningful through further education.
“It took me about 2.5 years to fully complete the course, as I had to suspend my course a couple of times due to health issues. However, during the COVID shutdown last year, I was able to get stuck in my study and after a lot of hard work, I managed to pass every subject in the course.”
Thanks to online learning at TAFE NSW and the assistance from Sunnyfield Support Workers and Karen’s other providers, she completed her course last month and passed all subjects with flying colours.
“The reason why I chose to do Certificate III in Community Services is because I have a passion for helping people and I want to be able to assist people with disabilities to be able to have access to the Community and be treated fairly. I also want to advocate for people who are unable to do so for themselves so that they can enjoy the same freedoms in life as everyone else. I am not sure how good I will be at advocating, as I am not really able to advocate for myself, but I am getting better at voicing my wants and needs. I just need to be with the right people who will listen to my opinions and assist and support me to achieve all the goals I wish to achieve. My main goal is to be able to get some volunteer work at a group organisation in an admin position where I can focus on organising outings and programs for people in day programs.
I am also in the process of starting my Certificate IV in Community Services and then hopefully Certificate III in Mental Health.”
The sky is the limit for Karen and we can’t wait to see where her new qualifications and skills take her.
If you’d like to know more about our Community Programs in the Hunter Region, contact our Customer Services Team T 1300 588 688 or E enquiries@sunnyfield.org.au
