Leading by example: First Nations participant April paving the future for her family and community

April, a First Nations individual, is a valued participant here at Jobedge. She has been working with our team to receive support in reaching her goals and finding work that helps her manage her joint pain condition. 

Balancing her responsibilities of supporting her family of five with only one car, managing her condition, dealing with job rejections, and caring for her community, April felt overwhelmed and knew she wanted a job that would support her passion to help Aboriginal families in her community. 

April has been working with Jobedge Mentor Brittany since February 2024. From their first meeting, April greeted Brittany with a vibrant personality, and unwavering motivation to achieve her goals. As the sole provider for her household, April wanted to inspire her family to dream big by setting an example through her achievements, and achieve her dream of finding a career where she could help First Nations families and community members. 

To ensure that April could provide for her family, the first priority was to find a role that would support April’s goals. She successfully secured a housekeeper position with a local Adelaide motel. Jobedge extended their support by arranging April’s car registration, petrol, relevant work checks, and mentally preparing her for the new role. Through Brittany’s constant support, April has embraced every challenge in her new employment and is happy to be able to support her family, for seven months now through this role. 

After April settled into her role, she decided to explore her passion further and look into studying. After realising she had her heart set on community services, April worked with Brittany to establish a viable pathway to achieve this. In complete support of April’s passion, Brittany arranged for Jobedge to fund her enrollment in Certificate IV in Community Services, which she eagerly accepted, while continuing to work. 

April’s journey is far from over. With her Certificate IV nearing completion and her graduation in September, April will soon progress into a Diploma, which serves as the final step towards her new career. April plans to use her training to support First Nations individuals into safe living and new opportunities through a role in family services and has already started looking towards the future.

“I’ll be the first in my family to graduate, and I want to be the example, not an example. I haven’t had a perfect past, but I’ve reached a lot of goals and I’m still going. I’m doing this to keep the culture and community strong,” April shared.

Brittany shared her immense pride in joining April’s journey,

“April is such an inspiration, and we’re all so proud of the progress she’s made towards her goals. April has never shied away from a challenge, and I know she has an unstoppable future ahead.”

April has persevered at every step of her journey, and through support from the Jobedge team, she is proving that it’s never too late to change your life and create positive change in your community. 

Congratulations, April, on progressing towards your passion, and thank you for sharing your story with us. Jobedge will continue to work with April through post placement support to maintain the sustainability and longevity of her position as she progresses through her study goals. 

If you would like to learn more about how Jobedge can help you find work with a disability, injury or illness, visit our Job Seekers page.