Jenelle has been a Support Worker with Xavier for almost 7 years. We sat down with Jenelle for a chat about her role, what inspires her and more!
Q1: Do you support Xavier children and young people in a specific setting?
I support children and young people in their homes as well as with community access, getting out and about.
Q2: What types of care and supports do you provide?
There are lots of different supports that I provide to our children and young people depending on their needs. They include oral feeding and gastrostomy tube feeding, oral suctioning, personal care, administering medications and manual handling.
I also help with transporting children and young people to where they need to go and to get out and about and have fun in our beautiful Brisbane community.
Q3: What inspires and energises you?
Helping others who are in need. I practice self-motivation and recognition and my beautiful daughter inspires me everyday to be a good Support Worker.
Q4: Did you always want to work with children with disability?
Working with children with disability wasn’t always on my list of career options. However, after my own personal experience raising my beautiful daughter, I developed a passion for helping children and young people with a disability. This led me to become a support worker.
Q5: What might a typical workday look like for you?
I’m really lucky to have such an incredible job that I am so passionate about. My daily work schedule is from 8 to 5 which includes transporting my client to where they need to be and engaging with fun activities. We focus on tasks that are specific to their needs such as music therapy. Towards the end of the day, I allocate time to complete my daily routine notes and I engage with my wonderful Co-ordinator when needed.
Q6: What do you love most about your job?
Being a Support Worker is truly rewarding, sharing new experiences together with my clients, creating new memories and putting smiles on their faces every day.
Q7: What are your passions outside of work?
Spending quality time with family and friends. I love walking my dog in my spare time for exercise and wellbeing. I really enjoy listening to old time music and spending time at the beach.
Q8: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When growing up I wanted to be an Air Hostess!
*Janelle is pictured rocking matching sunnies with Luanna on a fun outing in Redcliffe!
