Jade first came to Bega Campbell Page in October 2015. At this time in her life, she was unemployed but had found it easy enough to find jobs – it was keeping them that she struggled with. This was partly due to the fact that the transition stage into new roles caused her to grow anxious, and also because she had not found a job that she truly enjoyed.

Jade’s Candidate Coach, Michelle, began working with her to highlight her skills, passions and goals and move her from unemployed to permanent work. Together developed a job plan that became centred around Jade’s love of animals.

Working with Jade, I soon discovered her love of animals and the outdoors. After finding this out, I realised why she was unemployed and none of her previous roles had worked out. – Michelle

Finding a job that involved working outside and with animals proved to be a difficult task due to the region that Jade lived in, however, determined to reach her goals, Jade persisted. Eventually, in 2016, Jade was placed as a volunteer at Potoroo Palace – a Native Animal Sanctuary.

Jade cam to Campbell Page unemployed, and is now working at Potoroo Palace on a permanent basis

When Jade first started volunteering she was a grounds keeper. Her role included completing various tasks such as keeping the grounds clear of leaves and debris as well as general park maintenance.  Jade quickly demonstrated her love of animals and commitment to the park. This lead to Jade being employed on a permanent part time basis. Jade’s role changed, her responsibilities increased, and she now helps out in all aspects of running the park including animal care, grounds maintenance, tours, wildlife talks in and working in the café as required.

I was so excited that my hard work paid off! I now get to work even closer with the animals and have learnt so much in a short period of time. – Jade

Jade often goes beyond her paid work hours by taking home injured wildlife and newborn animals to give them 24-hour care and support as needed.

It is probably the most rewarding part of my job. I love to seeing the progress that these animals make and knowing that I have made a difference.

Jade is now working on a permanent basis, after being unemployed for quite some time. She is pictured here working on the job at Potoroo Palace with some native Australian wildlife.

With the help of Potoroo Palace, Jade is about to reach her next goal by completing a Zookeeping course, which will help her do her job even better.

Jade is now is loving life and feels she has found her niche. She is proud of the work she is doing. Jade happily talks to visitors of the park and is comfortable giving wildlife talks, a thing she would never have been able to do on the past, and her passion and love for the job shines through.

Potoroo Palace is a not for profit wildlife sanctuary between Bega and Merimbula on the Far South Cost of NSW. To find out more about Potoroo Palace, please click here to visit the website.

Campbell Page is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to transforming people’s lives through securing long-term employment. If you would like to find out more about what we do, please click here, or click here to contact us directly.

Words by: Tiarne Pattison

tiarne.pattison@campbellpage.org.au