Hi everyone
I've been meaning to do this post for a while but haven't had the time. I thought I'd post about
how I got back into the workforce after being out of it for years because of my anxiety. I know many of you on here have been or are in similar situations. Being out of the work force for any length of time can leave holes in your resume.
When I applied for government assistance I had to be assessed. The woman I saw was really nice and recommended I look into joining a place called stepping stone clubhouse. They are an employment service for people with mental health issues. they were so helpful and definitely where the main force in getting me back to work. They don't just give you a print out of available jobs and leave you to it. They are a total support network. Every club house is different and has different services that,from what I understand, depends largely on what funding they can get.
Members help with the day to day running of the clubhouse in addition to the paid staff. Stepping stone have a kitchen/coffee shop that provides cheap meals to staff and members, a monthly newsletter and other things such as admin work that you can work in. This sort of thing helped me build up my skills to add to my resume. It was great. It gave me somewhere to go, a purpose and a chance to have a support network (I live in a different state to my family and didn't know anyone in Brisbane when I first moved here). I started off going in maybe once a week but as my confidence grew I started going several times a week and being involved in more things around the clubhouse. It wasn't easy and a bit scary to begin with. The first day I went I met someone who was the author of every song ever written. the clubhouse is
open to anyone with a mental illness, from anxiety and depression to bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorders. It challenged a lots of my ideas about
what a 'mentally ill' person was and what they can do. At the start I still hadn't accepted that fact I was now classified as mentally ill but I came to realise it is nothing to be ashamed of.
after about
a year I finally felt well enough to take part in the transitional employment program. The clubhouse has agreements with various workplaces to provide people for certain jobs. they are usually entry level positions that don't need a huge amount of experience to do, part time and for varying lengths of time (3-9 months). they are real jobs that pay proper wages. you get on the job training, support form the clubhouse staff and who ever is the contact person in the workplace. I was lucky enough to be chosen to work in a small cooperate library for 9 months. My boss encouraged me stick with the library thing and I went on to study to become a qualified library technician. through the work experience I did as part of my studies I got to job I'm in currently which is a toy library for children with disabilities. Just this week I had a job interview for a job at a school library.
I know this kind of place isn't for everyone and every clubhouse is different but I thought it might suit some of you like it did me. This is a link to the international clubhouse site where you can read a bit more about
them and search to see if one is near you.
http://www.iccd.org/ Best of luck to everyone on their road to recovery. It can be rough and long but you can get there :)
<3 Belleadonna
Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 6/23/2012 10:59:25 AM (GMT-6)