'There's been quite a few that I'd want to give a cuddle and just make sure they're okay. There's a few that they sit on my mind often and you worry.'
We sit down and have a candid chat with John Peachy as he reflects on his 16 year career journey with Allambi Care.
I was talking to a friend who said you wouldn't believe it, I found this job and I get paid to take kids to the beach, and I thought I'd be excellent at that and I think you know I applied and I got the job and I think it took about eight seconds to realise this is a whole lot more than taking kids to the beach and I got the bug, I was hooked and I’m still here in my 16th year.
I'm in the Outreach department and I'm a case manager in youth hope and it's where I belong it’s where I think that this, I hoped, that this industry would go for so long. I spent a lot of time looking after young people that had been removed from their families and couldn't really figure out what their future would be or what the next steps were and I'm thrilled to be in a department where I guess our mantra is to keep families together, have them be strong and healthy and supported and we get to be part of that Journey with them.
What’s it like working in the Outreach team?
It's the best. I've been in a few different departments, I mean, the Outreach team itself like anywhere in Allambi they're good people, we've got good people everywhere, but the concept is what gets me, I will do anything to try and prevent a young person going into out of home care and that's the premise of this program is to say we've got an opportunity here, let's work together, let's make sure we can get you back on an excellent path so that you don't ever have to feel worried about your children being out of your home or out of your care, let's keep you guys together and be in a good place.
If you had an opportunity right now to stand in front of all the families and young people that you've worked with in your 16 years, what would you like to say to them?
There's been quite a few that I'd want to give a cuddle and just make sure they're okay. There's a few that they sit on my mind often and you worry…
If you look back at your career what are you most proud of?
I would think I was lucky enough to have it, must be nearly six years, of just ongoing connection with one young person. We were mates you know, he was, he was my little mate, a big part of my life.
What advice would you give to a staff member who's just starting on their journey working for Allambi?
I think it’s a really personal journey. We attract by nature people that just have a natural skill set of connecting, that's the sort of person we attract, and I don't know so there are other parts of the job that people also have to be able to master, and that's your time-management and admin paperwork, all that sort of stuff, but we naturally attract people that can connect with people. What you need to be able to do is connect enough to not get hurt but enough to influence and support these people and it's such a fine line because if you're not right there where you need to be, if it's not perceived as genuine or, you know, in the right place heartfelt no one's going to buy into it, no one’s going to believe, you're not convincing, so you just have to be real I think, you can't fake this job.
If you were talking to somebody who is considering working in this industry, what advice would you give them?
It’s the hardest thing you will do and it is the best thing you will do. You will feel things that you haven't felt before, it's not a job where you can just put a product on a shelf and then walk away at the end of the day. You're going to be attached, you are, it's because we’re humans and we're working with humans and we're working with people that matter but, because of that, it's also probably one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do, you know? You can, whatever you want, lay bricks in the hot sun if you want, but this is a total different level of exhaustion and spending energy, you know? The emotional exhaustion, the mental exhaustion and the physical is kind of excellent if that makes sense, and it's something I don't know where else you can get.
'We're doing something that it's not just about making profits or taking from other people, it's about giving back, it’s wholly about giving back. We don't produce anything, we give, that’s what we do. We give ourselves... we give our support, we give our hope, you know? We give our best wishes and intentions. That's what we do.'
