iThink You Are Awesome – Suzie

Suzie – Empowerment & Excellence

Recently, we shared Sophie’s story of moving into a SIL home with Interchange WA and loving it.

Today, we’re celebrating the woman who made it happen: Suzie.

Suzie has done more than Sophie move, as a member of the Interchange WA Engagement team, she’s enabled many customers to make moves, receive support, and live good lives. That’s why she’s won an iThink You Are Awesome award.

More important than any award, Suzie’s work is powered by smiles.

“I enjoy being able to sink my teeth into a new project and then coming out the other side to hear comments like ‘I am very happy’ or even a ‘thank you for my new home’ from our customers. Seeing them reach new goals and levels of independence, plus making new friends, is why I do this job.”

Suzie has been with Interchange WA for a bit over a year, and onboarding Sophie into her forever home is the latest of her successes. Her background in the NDIS and Disability Accommodation has made her a fast learner of our systems, and her welcoming attitude has made her fit right in with our customers.

Suzie has gone the extra mile to ensure that our customers continue to be happy in their new homes after moving in. Suzie, with the help of other team members, continues to stop in and check up regularly to make sure everything will be going as well on day one thousand as it did on day one. So far, everything is running smoothly and now they’re adding a third compatible member to the household.

Empowering Everybody

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Empowerment is the Interchange WA Value that she resonates most with. While she highly values empowering our customers so they can reach their goals and live good lives, she also seeks empowerment for herself and others.

“I do feel empowered to be able to do my job knowing that I have full support from the wider team. I have never felt so supported and invested in the work I am doing. Even on the stressful days it is good stress!”

Empowerment is about more than capacity on its own, it’s about the joy people feel from achieving their goals. One of our customers she onboarded inspired her with his cooking abilities. In the time since starting supports with Interchange WA, he’s gained independence and begun preparing and cooking meals for himself. As time passed, so did his confidence. Not too long ago, he cooked for his mother and delivered it to her for the first time, which warmed her heart.

This sort of family connection is what Suzie loves, as a mother of four, she looks forward to family dinners and game nights so she can spend valuable time with her kids. Her family is so inseparable that we simply had to include them in the photo with her. We think they’re awesome too.

Thank you for your work, Suzie.

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