When Jennie first searched Mable for an independent support worker, she wanted to find someone truly special for her family.
While the right skills and experience were important to her, there was one thing she valued above it all.
“A good heart,” the loving mum shares.
Here’s how Jennie and her son, Conor, found their support worker match in Livia.
Meeting Livia
While reading Livia’s profile, Jennie discovered she’d been a teacher in a former career. Having worked with kids a lot, she thought Livia might be a good candidate for supporting Conor.
It wasn’t until their in-person chat though, that Jennie knew she’d really found ‘the one’. She felt an innate goodness and kindness in Livia. Most of all, she knew Conor would love her.
Livia also felt the same way.
“We had our first meeting and immediately I think we knew we were a good match. We had that heart connection,” She says, adding it was, “Very nice, very sweet.”
Since then Jennie, Conor and Livia have all really bonded.
“She's kind of like Auntie,” Jennie smiles, describing Livia as “vital” to their family.
Jennie says Livia helps them all to be more independent.
“By assisting Conor with his needs … It allows him to be more independent from me, and allows me some independence to be a person. My own person,” she explains.
As well as providing practical support, such as taking him to speech therapy and assisting him with daily living tasks, Livia brings fun and laughter into Jennie and Conor’s home.
Dance parties and pasta
In addition to being a former teacher, Livia has also worked as a cook. Her love of food and energy for life is something she shares with Conor.
“I pick him up from school, and we always have a dance party in the car!” she chuckles.
Livia and Conor enjoy cooking together with the two of them making pasta ‘from scratch’.
“Conor loves eating pasta!” She says. “We have lots of fun.”
As well as understanding Conor’s needs and sensitivities by really listening to him and responding, Jennie greatly appreciates the happiness and good vibes Livia generates.
She believes bringing, “Loving and calming energy” is a ‘support worker superpower’ of hers. And it’s something her other clients enjoy, too.
Care and connection
“I have four clients at the moment,” Livia says. In addition to Conor (a teenager), she also supports three older adult clients.
“They're very sweet. We have a very good time together,” she says. “We've been together for a while now and it's amazing.”
Being able to meet and support people from all walks of life and ages is what Livia loves most about being a support worker on Mable.
“I end up making great relationships with the people I work with,” she says.
This has definitely been the case with Jennie and Conor.
Lighten the load
Having built her support team on Mable, Jennie is confident Conor has the right people in his corner.
When good support like this is in place, it has a flow on effect. Family members who are also carers feel supported, too.
“She's definitely helped lighten the load for me, that's for sure,” Jennie says.
Replenishing her emotional ‘cup’ by giving her a carer’s break is also something Jennie deeply appreciates about having Livia in their lives.
But most of all, she’s happy she found the right person for Conor. Someone who has what she believes is more important than anything else in a support worker.
“A good heart...that is definitely Livia,” she says.
Discover how you can build your support worker team on Mable today.
