Celebrating achievements at Bamara through International Day of People with Disability
Our Dubbo team celebrated the International Day of People with Disability with parents, staff, and participants.
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When a person must step away from employment, for whatever reason, the resulting isolation can be devastating to their self-esteem and ability to set motivating goals. Isolation leads to even more isolation, and the cycle can be hard to break.
Before becoming a mother, Madalyn had had casual work as a labourer, but once she took time off to have her child, she found herself ‘out of the loop’ of work. Like so many others in this position, Madalyn’s self-esteem and motivation started to suffer, and so did her physical and mental health. Added to the challenges of caring for a young child, at times, Madalyn began to worry about her ability to cope.
But she made the right decision and sought help. Madalyn was referred to Bamara’s ParentsNext program at Palmerston in November 2021, and connected with Edith, her Support Mentor. Madalyn needed to overcome her sense of isolation, and the bad feelings that had provoked in her. She knew she needed help to improve her confidence and her wellbeing, not only for herself, but also for her child.
Edith engaged Madalyn in Bamara’s courses in Family Counselling, Family Budgeting, Positive Parenting and Caring for Self and Others. She also got Madalyn involved in Bamara’s Art and Yarn group, where she could get to know other women in similar situations, in a relaxed, low-threat environment.
Bamara’s activities allowed Madalyn to gain confidence and social skills, to improve her financial management, to take charge of her role as a parent, and to focus more on self-care.
Madalyn’s goal at the beginning was mainly to get re-engaged, to break her sense of isolation, and be able to pick up some labouring work again, like she used to. But with Edith’s help, she went much further than that.
“It was always a pleasure to have Madalyn as my participant. She was always willing to participate in activities and her confidence and wellbeing improved quickly!”
Edith, Bamara Support Mentor
With this newfound confidence, and her improving self-esteem, Madalyn set her employment sights higher, and in October of 2021, commenced employment in crane hire services as a Dogman.
Madalyn is enjoying her role, and Bamara’s last bit of assistance was to help her to get suitable work clothes and boots. Now she is back on her feet, out of the isolation cycle, and looking forward to creating the life she wants for herself and her child.