Twenty twenty-two marks two years of service to unpaid carers in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania by Your Caring Way.

It’s been two years of milestones, growth, challenges and unique opportunities to reinforce our commitment to supporting carers pursue their goals.

In 2020, the program, a Carers Queensland initiative, brought to life our successful formula of providing individualised support to assist unpaid carers in training, volunteering, and employment (job placement).

Back then, the world was also facing big challenges. As the pandemic spread across the country, it had a significant impact on carers, those they cared for, and their families. Isolation, mental health, and unemployment increased, as did the complexity of providing care and accessing professional health services.

From our perspective, this increased need solidified our resolve to get the Your Caring Way program up and running and motivated our team to make a real difference by creating a new future for carers.

For Your Caring Way’s program manager, Heidi Dekker, this is a moment to celebrate, to take stock of what the program has achieved, where it stands and where it’s headed.

“After a challenging few years, we’re really excited to celebrate,” she said.

“We have reached a new milestone, and we are very proud of our success.”

“In the last two years, the response has been fantastic and we’re very grateful for that – we have a caring and passionate team, committed partners and amazing carers we have placed their trust in us,” she added.

Today’s results paint an optimistic picture.

A program with real opportunities

On a mission to inspire positive change by connecting people to real opportunities, the Your Caring Way program has been delivering results for unpaid carers in Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia since 2020.

The provision of free training, education, volunteering, and employment services empowers carers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enter or re-enter the workforce, undertake higher education or engage in meaningful volunteering or employment.

Carers work closely with a vocational coach who helps them assess which areas they want to work on, gain a better understanding of their difficulties, create goals and a plan to support achieving these.

To date, Your Caring Way has contacted and supported 1,250 carers… and that number is growing every day.

Because of the program, more carers are getting the chance to experience the benefits of having professional goals and work-life integration while still attending their caring responsibilities.

As of April 2022, we are proud to report a range of amazing outcomes for carers, including:

  • 182 in Casual Employment
  • 80 in Part-Time Employment
  • 55 in Volunteering
  • 42 in Full-Time Employment
  • 39 in Self-Employment, and
  • 13 in Higher Education

Since its inception, more than 400 carers have enrolled and completed accredited training.

Program Manager Heidi Dekker said Your Caring Way was designed with carers in mind.

“We envisioned a program that provided carers with solutions to some of their unmet needs: training, employment, and personal success,” she said.

“They spend most of their time taking care of others, and at some point, can lose their own aspirations and self-confidence.”

“We know how important it is for carers to receive the support they need when navigating jobs, caring, family and personal fulfilment.”

“We help them find a job that is sustainable, that suits their needs and most importantly, that they really want to do,” she added.

The power of partnerships

To do that, Your Caring Way has been proactive in developing partnerships with value-driven organisations that realise the benefit of providing employment or volunteering opportunities for highly skilled, qualified, and committed carers.

Currently, the program has a range of official partnerships including Meals on Wheels Queensland, Mable, Carers SA and Carers TAS. We also collaborate with more than 50 other organisations across the three states such as Wellways, Anglicare, Salvation Army, Uniting Communities, Arafmi, Cancer Council, Burnie Brae, and The Benevolent Society.

This effort focuses on creating better experiences for carers, allowing them to appreciate the value of their contribution and understanding how they can benefit from applying their skills into a job.

Through its partner network, Your Caring Way provides unique opportunities for carers to build their experience and apply their skills in the workplace.

We want every carer to thrive and that’s why we offer them different paths for their realisation, so they can see what’s possible and create a new future,” Heidi said.

“Working cooperatively helps us achieve impact by addressing some of the barriers to employment for unpaid carers.”

“There is an opportunity for everyone out there, to develop, to grow and to get the support that we all need,” she explained.

For more information on the program, email info@yourcaringway.com.au.

To register your interest, please visit http://yourcaringway.com.au/register.