I started at Bonnie’s in October last year…

I had a job in accounts but I’d been wanting to work in the community sector since finishing my Diploma in Community Services Work. So when the opportunity came up to become part of the new Rapid Response program here at Bonnie’s, I didn’t think twice about it. I hadn’t worked in Domestic Violence before so a lot of the work was new to me. Talk about change in career!

My role here at Bonnie involves working with women and children escaping domestic violence when they’re in crisis. The Rapid Response program (also known as Domestic Violence Response Enhancement – DVRE) accepts referrals from Friday 1pm to Monday 9am. So we do intense work over a short period of time, providing women and families with support in order to attend to their immediate needs. The focus is on getting them out of the crisis and into a safe place and also providing safety planning that they can use in the future. In some cases we may refer them onto a service that will offer to provide long term case management support.

Although there have been some challenges in my job, it has been an amazing journey so far. I have grown as a person and learnt so much in these past couple of months. Meeting families that have experienced so much trauma and abuse but still have the strength to keep moving forward is what makes me love my job. Hearing these women’s stories can be quite confronting. But building that rapport with them, and working together to enable them to move forward and start a new life is incredibly rewarding.

Working alongside such supportive colleagues makes all the difference: knowing that I can approach anyone for advice or even ask what may seem a silly question. They are always happy to help me out.  It’s not easy to find such a great team that all get along so well. Having that support from day one, I will never forget.

I once heard a saying ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life’. I never thought it could be true.

Written by Tania