Meet Dylan Gravett, a community care worker with Council since 2018 after he completed his nine-month Certificate III in Individual Support at South West Tafe.
"I was on holiday in Hawaii when I received the call from Council for an interview," remembers Dylan, who grew up in Camperdown. "It was the first time I'd applied for a fulltime job, so I wasn't expecting it. I thought I would end up in disability support, but this job suits me perfectly because I ended up really enjoying the aged care side of the job as well."
His day starts around 8am when he visits clients to help with the personal care side of his role, including helping them out of bed and to get dressed and ready for the day with breakfast and any medications. In the afternoon, he mostly helps his clients with housework, takes them shopping or to appointments. He also offers respite to other carers, such as the husband or wife, to give them a break in their day.
"I have a few favourite clients who make me feel I'm part of their family – they treat me like a grandson or son," said Dylan. "I just love going there and find out all about their lives."
He doesn't mind the clients with challenging behaviours, enjoying trying to win them over and be a support to them instead of someone they see as coming into their home to tell them what to do.
"I try to be someone who they can talk to and I try to learn about their personalities and lives," said Dylan. "I have such an open mind now – everyone is different."
He visits between 6-10 clients per day and travels between townships, which could be out in the bush and down roads he wouldn't otherwise get to see.
"Some of the properties are really beautiful with nice views and I go to places like Birregurra, Beeac, Borongarook, Gellibrand and Forrest," said Dylan. "I like the travel aspect of the job and finding new places. It's also good to be moving around all day and getting a drive through a country road to clear my mind in between clients."
When he's not working, he has a love of travelling near and far. Locally, his favourite place to visit is to the Redwoods or Hopetoun Falls and his favourite town is Lorne. Further afield, he'd like to return for the fourth time to the USA and would like to do a European tour. He also enjoys visiting Melbourne for the weekend to soak up the city atmosphere and events.
Being a community care worker has influenced other parts of his life and he appreciates being young and healthy, realising that unexpected things such as health issues or disabilities can happen to anyone at any time. On the flip side, he also sees that growing older can be looked at in a positive way and that there are lots of good things about ageing.
"I love the social side of the job and meeting new people, hearing their stories and just having conversations – I could talk all day long," said Dylan. "It's also nice to know I'm helping someone to stay at home where they want to be. It feels really important to their life and that's very rewarding."
He's keen to stay in the industry for the foreseeable future, saying: "I can't see myself doing anything else, I just love it."
Keep your eyes on Council's employment page for community care roles in our community.
