Gellibrand Support Coordinator and support worker Alison Harris is into factual entertainment, a passion that links well with her approach to supporting clients.
Alison Harris loves reading biographies and watching reality TV and documentaries because she finds people interesting. For the past decade, she has put that interest to good use as a Gellibrand team member.
“I like to learn about people so I take that into my work with clients,” she said. “I’m interested in who they are and what they enjoy, what their fears are and what are their expectations. I just like getting to really know them.”
Before she began at Gellibrand, Alison worked in administration for child care centres, retail businesses, and for the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association (SDA). But she felt like a change and wanted to do something that she thought would have a more direct impact on people’s lives.
“At one stage I thought about being a paramedic,” she said, but added that the potential study was a barrier because she was a single parent. Then, in a shopping centre one day, she approached a disability support worker who was with clients and asked how to work in the sector. Soon afterwards a job came up at Gellibrand, Alison applied, and she landed a role as a support worker.
“It’s so rewarding feeling like I’ve contributed something positive to a client’s day,” she said, adding that it sometimes takes a while to build rapport with clients. “I’ve worked with a client for quite some time and have built up that trust. She doesn’t really leave the house without support workers and so being able to bring her out into the community, which she ends up enjoying, means I’ve contributed something positive to her day.”
Alison said the way she works on building rapport is by trying to “be really positive. I always have a smile on my face and have fun. Again, talking about the same client, when we’re in the car I put the music on and sing and then she starts singing along. It’s just so much about finding connections.”
Two years ago, Alison was asked if she wanted to also try working in Gellibrand’s Support Coordination team. It ended up being a great fit because she could take her client knowledge and add it to her previous administrative experience.
“I’ve learnt a lot in the past two years, that’s for sure,” Alison said, explaining that Support Coordination is about supporting clients and families to understand their NDIS plans and see what their funding covers, then working with them to best implement that funding.
“After things are set up, we have check-ins with them to make sure that they’re traveling along well. If they need changes, then we support them to make those changes,” Alison said, adding that the approach is about building client and family capacity to self-manage their plans. “That’s not going to happen with every client, but it is the aim.”
Alison said that, outside of the satisfaction she gets from supporting clients, the best part of working at Gellibrand is how supported she feels as a team member.
“I’ve gone through a few issues and the support that I’ve got from managers and team members in general has been amazing. I’ve never seen support like that before – and also the organisation’s diversity. We’re very, very client focused, and there are so many wonderful and diverse people that we work alongside. It makes work even more interesting.”
