Running playgroups or organising aged care, you can count on Sue

4 days ago
3 min read

BY LAUREN MARTIN

You could say that Launceston Salvation Army worker Suzanne Wynne wears many hats.

Three days a week, Sue serves as a case manager for the Care Finder team, a federally funded program supporting vulnerable older people.

On the other two days of the week, she works in the Doorways to Parenting program, supporting young mums and their toddlers.

And in between you can find her volunteering for The Salvation Army in any capacity, wherever she’s needed.

Sue says she “just loves helping people”.

Care Finder role At Care Finder, Sue often conducts home visits for vulnerable older members of her community in Launceston, Tasmania’s second-largest city.

“One lady is still waiting to get all her in-home services set up,” says Sue. “In the meantime, once a week, I might go visit her and say, ‘Do you need anything from the shops?’ or, ‘Would you like to go for a coffee?’”

The woman Sue is talking about has been in and out of the general hospital psychiatric ward with severe anxiety, and Sue’s visits show her that she is not alone.

“It’s just so nice to be able to support people,” says Sue, who is clearly in the right job for her passion and personality.

In her role with the Care Finder program, Sue Wynne works with other agencies to assist vulnerable older Australians.

She loves and values older Australians and spends her time supporting them to connect with the aged care supports they need and working to prevent vulnerable older people from becoming homeless.

“Every day is different. You are meeting amazing people ... with such resilience. So many of them were children during the war, and the stories they have [are fascinating.] It’s just an incredible cohort of people!”

Doorways to Parenting role With Doorways to Parenting, Sue is a social worker who comes alongside mothers who struggle with postnatal depression or have experienced traumatic births.

On Friday mornings, she’s in the thick of toddlers at a supported playgroup, singing ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands’ and chatting with parents and carers.

“It’s a playgroup, but the mums can also sit and talk to you, and we can provide referrals if they need other support,” she says. “Occasionally, we are also a space for a fun and safe visitation for a parent who doesn’t have custody of their child.”

After working with the elderly, Sue has no problem switching hats and working with children.

She also runs parent education programs and provides individual casework for parents and carers of young children.

Her two roles see her supporting people at very different stages of their lives: the transition to parenthood and the transition to aged care. She has worked in both roles for the past 10 years and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sue can also be found serving in a variety of other ways, whether it’s representing The Salvation Army with the Launceston Benevolent Society or simply serving coffee at the corps.

“It’s really fulfilling,” she says. “For a lot of people, we are the only person they have meaningful contact with … I’m just really passionate about supporting people.”