Simon was looking for mental health support when he heard about Your Caring Way.

“My depression and anxiety had gotten the best of me,” he says.

“I knew I needed help. Spending my entire life always at work and then all of sudden, my daughter needs me. Things were overloading me mentally, I was suicidal; depression and anxiety had hit me really hard. “

“I thought, ‘I can’t do this. This is wrong. I need help.’”

Simon cares for his 11-year-old daughter who has epilepsy, speech delay, and an undiagnosed short-term memory problem.

He had always worked and had been out of the workforce for 10 years after becoming a carer.

“I was spending more and more time with her. Ended up forgetting about my own problems; she became my world.”

“I cut out communication with the outside world making sure that she was alright.”

At the beginning of this year, he joined the Your Caring Way program through Carers South Australia.

“It was daunting at first because I didn’t know much about it. I even thought this is not going to help me at all.”

“As I started to talk to my coach things got easier. “

“Your Caring Way helped me rejoin the world. They didn’t push, everyone was so nice, just showing their hearts and empathy.”

“Being out of the workforce for so long, and just being with my daughter, re-joining the world was a bit scary, daunting, but it was also awesome.”

“I needed it. It got me started. I don’t know if I really wanted it at the time, but I needed it.”

With support from Your Caring Way, Simon not only enrolled in a Certificate IV in Community Services with Carers Queensland’s Registered Training Organisation (RTO), but he also gained employment.

“My Placement Officer, Shauna, put me in contact with Home Instead and like in two weeks I was employed.”

“I work as an Aged Carer, Monday to Friday, 10-20 hours a week. I’m still learning a lot of things. I’m very thankful for the course. She did a lot for me and I’m learning a lot.”

“I listened to their advice, I’ve taken it on board and I’m feeling great. Granted at times I listened, yet never really thought about it, as it all seemed scary, yet it did give me something else to think about at night time. ”

“I’m laughing more, I’m not single-minded in my conversation, everything used to be about my daughter.”

“I can actually contribute more to a conversation with people, and I’m not stuck in my head all the time.”

Simon credits his experience with Your Caring Way for all the positive things happening in his life.

“This is unbelievable, it’s awesome; it’s what I need to get myself back into the world. My daughter is now at school, full-time. My employer has been great too.”

“I get to see different clients. I do home care support, cleaning whatever they need, just assisting them at home.”

“It’s unbelievable. It’s awesome. It’s like I’m contributing, I’m feeling useful, and I’m needed in the world again.

“It’s good to get back, it’s good to get out. I’m getting all this help and it’s giving me what I need.”

“Your Caring Way helped save me from my own head and improve my mental health.”

“I wanted to feel useful, feel needed and happy. Not just in my home. I wanted to go somewhere where I feel fulfilled, be happier with myself.”

“My goal was to be a better person and this program has helped me with all of that.”