Take two: Like mother, like daughter
Leah Anderson followed her Mum, Carrol Winfield, into a career in disability support work. They both now work at InLife and share a special bond. The pair open up about their relationship in their own words for Mother’s Day.
Leah: I’m the youngest of three and the only girl. As a child, Mum used to take me to work with her at a group home for people with disabilities. I would go hang out with the tenants for the day and sit with them and colour and make coffees and stuff. Mum is a very hard worker and was always there for the guys.
It definitely gave me a different experience to other people my age. I never thought the people my Mum was working with were any different to anyone else. I think it taught me to be non-judgemental. My brother helped a lot too because there were mental health issues there. My mum was always educating us about how to deal with behaviours of concern so it became second nature.
I left school, studied mental health and then Mum mentioned a job at a day service where she was working. I applied for that and one thing led to another and 12 years later I’m still in the disability sector. I followed her! We chose different paths though, Mum went into supported living and I managed a day service for about six years, but here we are back together at InLife.
I have a photo as a four-year-old sitting with a few clients on one of my Mum’s shifts and when I turned 18 and worked at a day centre I worked with the same clients! So I was seeing them 14 years later and became the one working with them.
It’s unique working with your mum. I’ll call her on the personal phone and say, ‘Mum, can you go to the chemist and pick these things up for me?’. Then I’ll hang up and call her on the work phone, and go ‘Carrol, I’ve followed up that incident and closed it for you’. We just learn to switch it up.
We do have the same sort of working style as well, which I’m only really realising now. You get stuff done for the clients but you have fun while you’re doing it. Mum has taught me that working in this field doesn't have to be a daunting experience - it can be great fun.
I would describe my mum as supportive and caring and just open minded. She is everything a mum should be.
- Leah Anderson is a Senior Coordinator at InLife
Carrol:
My own mum worked with people with disabilities for a very long time in institutions. As a 14-year-old I started volunteering with her as part of a craft program every afternoon. I just went along with my mum for a very long time.
When Leah was growing up we helped the community in any way we could, especially people with disabilities and mental health. I am a very strong believer that everyone has a place in the community so people with a disability looked after Leah when she was three years old and came along to shifts with me.
Leah and I had struggled a bit with organisations having the right values for people. We believe that InLife has got it right. It’s about everybody feeling a valuable member of the community.
Do we agree on how the vegetables should be cooked on a Sunday roast day? Absolutely not. Do we agree on nail polish and hair colours for each other? Absolutely not. But when we work together we both have the client’s best interests at heart.
We couldn’t fill this shift recently in Ballarat so I went and did half the shift and Leah went and did the other half, which is great. We both love being on the floor, but when Leah got there and the client found out she was my daughter she said, “she’s actually a faster, better model, so I’ll take that one!”
I have five children, three are biological and one has passed away. My son Aaron took his own life in 2017 and both Leah and I are massive advocates of Beyond Blue and mental health. It is very important to us.
My other son also works for InLife. He’s a teacher and works in disability on the weekends. He loves it as well! All my kids have a beautiful education and good jobs - they are all in community services. I'm very blessed.
I’m extremely proud of Leah and the way she cares for people. She’s got the same values as me but I didn't realise how similar she was to me until I started working with her. I have a client who doesn’t like many people and normally prefers to talk to me. I took Leah to meet him. The following day he called my phone and said: “G’day Leah, how are you going?” I asked if there was anything I could help him with. But he said, “don’t worry, just get Leah to call me!”
- Carrol Winfield was a Client Service Manager at InLife for north and west Victoria.
As told to Cathy Morris
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