Joblink Times Issue 2 2011 - Greenacres Disability Services

1ssue 1, 2011
T H E J O B L I N K T I M E S
JOBLINK 2011
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE
Joblink Great
Race
2
Graduation 3
Green thumbs 4
Discovery 5
D.O.E.
Adventurous
Journey
Work Readiness &
Greenacres
Industries
6
7
Hellos 8
Goodbyes 9
New
Achievements &
Upcoming events
10
2011 has gotten off to a flying start with a growing number of enthusiastic
new participants and trainers eager to start the new year.
With many new faces joining us including 43 new clients to our Wollongong
Centre, 15 new clients to our Nowra Service and a brand new caseload of 6
starting in our NEWLY opened Ulladulla Centre we anticipate an eventful
year.
A big well done to our 2010 1st years who have completed their Certificate I
in Work Skills for Life and also their first year of our Transition to Work program.
2010 was a rewarding and challenging year here at Joblink and we
all look forward to 2011 being as significant as the last.
Joblink Wollongong’s 2nd year clients have also seen some big but exciting
changes, with some participants going over to Greenacres Employment
Solutions to start their intensive Job Skills Training and others taking on
increased hours of Work Experience at Greenacres Industries whilst
preparing for their Paid Work Trials to commence.
Good luck to all of our new and returning Participants, we look forward to
working with you in 2011!!!!
ROYAL EASTER SHOW
GES 11
Ulladulla 12
In The Spotlight
& In Memory
13
Community 14
Access 15
Where are they
now?
16

Page 2
THE GREAT RACE
And this years winner’s are…………. (drum role) Tegan
Hintz, Charlotte Reay and Tayla Robinson, along with
Trainers Lisa and Sarah.
Joblink's Great Race took place on November 18th 2010.
The race is designed for
participants to put all they have learnt over the year together,
utilising skills such as Travel Training, Money
Management and Communication to name a few.
This years race was held in and all around the Illawarra,
with our Nowra groups joining us along the way.
Participants departed from Wollongong
and Nowra, breaking into groups of
around 3-6
people. Each group had a different route
to follow and points to earn around the
Illawarra. Locations ranged from Thirroul,
Shellharbour, Wollongong, Kiama and
Corrimal.
In order to earn points, the groups were
required to use forms of transport such
as Trains, Buses, Free Shuttle buses and
travelling by foot as well as solving riddles,
puzzles and
collecting photos and other items as
proof.
When the heat was on, some groups
were even clever enough to use the help
of some local businesses!
This day is always enjoyable and can be
very competitive. Well done to everyone
who participated in the day !!!

Page 3
10TH ANNIVERSARY
GRADUATION 2010
Congratulations to our 24 participants who graduated from our Work Readiness
program on the 9th December 2010. On this wonderful evening the graduates received
Certificates for completing Certificate I in workskills for life and a large number
also received awards for completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this momentous occasion, especially the
family and friends of our graduates and the members from our State Government,
David Campbell & Sharon Bird who joined us as we celebrated our 10th Graduation
for Joblink.
This prestigious event was held at the City Beach Function Center in Wollongong
and all of our graduates and guests looked fantastic.
The Night was enjoyed by all in attendance and another big congratulations to the
Graduates below:
Rochelle Yates
Emily Clarke
Chris Gauci
Jake Long
Joshua Kelly
Amy Parsons
Jack Larkin
Megan Galos
David Harkin
Geoffrey McFad-
den
Troy Fitzimmons
Aaron Hart
Jesse Sear
Tim McGovern
Daniel Horder
Alex O’Shennessy
Blaise Lovelace
Matthew McMaugh
Matthew Wearne
Shaun Iacivelli
Anton Italiano
Hayley King

Page 4
G R E E N T H U M B S
Each Joblink Participant is given the opportunity to learn and build on already existing
skills through our Gardening Program. The gardening crew are trained by Daniel
Boyer and work hard to maintain 11 different properties owned by Greenacres.
The gardening program focuses on the skills necessary to maintain physical and
mental strengths. Our participants gain massive amounts of pride through seeing
the results of their hard work and accomplishments. Well Done Guys!!!

Page 5
Discovery
Joblink’s annual Discovery program was a huge success
again this year. With a larger number of Joblink
participants in 2011 we ran three programs to cater
for everyone from our Wollongong, Nowra & Ulladulla
centres.
Discovery is a three day program ran in February
and is held down at Shoalhaven Heads Tourist Park.
All of Joblink’s 1 st year participants are encouraged
to attend as it helps us with learning new skills and
independence, team building, developing new
friendships and it gives us all a chance to get to know each other better.
Participants undertook many exciting and challenging activities including a clue
chase (treasure hunt), blind folded soccer, building rafts, egg drops, sports, feeding
possums, cooking, cleaning, socialising and we can’t forget everyone’s favorite
activity…. The Jumping Pillow.
This years three camps all ran smoothly and were a big hit for all who attended,
everyone had a great time!

Page 6
D U K E O F E D I N B U R G H ’ S A W A R D
A D V E N T U R O U S J O U R N E Y
What an adventure at Stanwell Tops we had in early December 2010! The Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award this year was attended by: Matt Cooney, Pirada Kuanpoth, Mitchel Whitton, John
Holzhauser, John Pisani, Daniel Bartrim, Mat Hogan, James McCoy, Jamayaha McPherson and
Rita Tranter along with their trainers: Nerida, Nicole, Lisa & Dan. Even Brett came and joined
us for the major Escarpment Walk on Day 4.
For 5 days the strength, courage, determination and will to succeed was tested not only by the
course itself but by the horrid weather conditions placed upon us. Along with the torrential rain
came everyone’s favourite creature: The blood sucking leech. Once again a tally was kept that
far eclipsed any other year. Nowra’s Mat Hogan was the winner with 28 in total.
We went through a lot of Garbage Bags which acted as further protection from the rain as our
jackets didn’t hold up, our shoes were soaking wet and every morning after searching them for
leeches we’d have to put them back on our dry feet. Our sandwiches got soggy in our backpacks,
and spirits were very low at times. But with encouragement of each other and great
team work everyone succeeded in completing the journey and by the end a lot of personal satisfaction
and gratification was felt.
Friendships were reinforced and new ones made. Meals were prepared by all (Neri’s Gems
were a hit) and cleaning duties shared. John Holzhauser celebrated a birthday as did Nicole.
Despite our unsavoury weather conditions a lot of fun and fond
memories were made. All participants should be proud of their
achievements .
By Nerida Giunta & Nicole Clarke

Page 7
WORK READINESS
PROGRAM 2011
Joblink is well underway with running its Work Readiness
Program for 2011. This program generally runs for two days a week, over a five
week period, and is targeted at Senior Students.
The program’s aim is to give students a ’taste’ of what
Joblink actually does, and focuses on independent living, and Work Skills as
well as some Community Access.
If you or anyone else you know is interested in participating or would like some
more information, please contact Lisa Vaughan or Brett Fahey on
02 4225 3478 or 0403 063 389 or email brettf@greenac.com.au or
lisav@greenac.com.au
G R E E N A C R E S
I N D U S T R I E S
After showing much hard work and dedication to their paid work trials, Joblink is pleased and very
proud to announce the following second year clients have now been employed
permanently at Greenacres Industries:
David Harkin, Blaise Lovelace, Matthew McMaugh, Matthew Wearne, Rochelle Yates, Joshua
Kelly, Jamie Dyer and Aaron Hart .

Page 8
HELLO……
GOODBYE
With increased signups and the opening
of a new centre, we are lucky enough to
once again welcome some new staff to
Joblink....
Aby Abraham
Aby volunteered with Greenacres industries during
2010 before receiving full time employment In our
Nowra office. Abe is really enjoying his position as a
1st year trainer, watching his participants learn new
life and work skills.
Kendra Griffith
Kendra comes from a
teaching background
previously. But has
been working part time
at Greenacres Industries
as a vocational trainer
over the last year.
Kendra will be
joining us as a first year
trainer at our Wollongong
centre, working
with participants on
their Certificate I in Work
Skills for Life.
Charlie Burke
Charlie comes from an Outdoor
Education and Youth Work background.
Last year he was also working with
Greenacres in their Community Participation
Programs.
Charlie has started with Joblink at their
Smith Street Centre as a 1st year trainer.
Clare Young
Clare Young is working in our
Joblink Nowra as a 1 st year
Training Officer, supporting her
guys as they complete their
certificate I in workskills for life.
She comes from a Hospitality
background. This new job has
been a huge change but she is
loving it.

Page 9
Vanessa Thomson
Vanessa has come from 2 years working with Greenacres Employment Solutions
where she helped people with a disability gain open employment . Previous to that
she worked as a Workplace Trainer and Assessor for 5 years at a Registered Training
Organisation in Sydney, training people on the job to achieve qualifications in Retail
and Management.
Gordon Watt
Gordon has spent many years
working in our Greenacres
Community participation
program. He joined the Joblink
team this year and is working
as a casual at our 2 Wollongong
centers and the factory.
Sarah Watterson
Sarah completed her Cert IV Training
and Assessment last year and was fortunate
enough to complete the group
delivery component at Greenacres
with Greenacres participants, this led
to a desire to join the Greenacres
team and the opportunity presented
itself with the new Greenacres office
in Ulladulla. Sarah is a first year
trainer at Greenacres Joblink Ulladulla.
Joblink Farewells……...
Sarah Gittoes
Farewell to Sarah who has now
gained a position working in
Nowra with out 2nd year clients
at Greenacres Employment Solutions.
Sarah worked for Joblink in
Wollongong for 3 years mostly
with our Illawarra School leavers
as our Transition Trainer and will
be dearly missed.
We wish her well with her new position.
Jonathon Donald (well, kind of)
With our new centre in Ulladulla opening,
our Wollongong Office will also be losing
Jono to the further South Coast. Jono
has worked in our Wollongong office as a
first year trainer for the past four years
and will be taking his knowledge, skills
and experience with him to open up our
new Ulladulla Office. Good Luck Jono,
you will be missed!!!!!

Page 10
NEW ACHEIVEMENTS
A huge Congratulations to Tomeeka Veljanov for gaining her L’s &
Dean Frier for getting his Green P’s
Liam Vickers also now has his P’s and drives independently to and
from work.
(Emily Owens, Matt Zielenski , Isaac Cahill and Matt Corish are all
currently completing hours to get their P’s)
The following people have also been successfully travel trained and are now traveling to
and from work independently. Evan Reid, Jasmine Gaskell, Brenna Hamilton, Amy
McGuire, Josh Kerma and Myff Corish, Wayne Herbert, Matt Zielenski, Isaac Cahill,
Petra Gerloff, Jye Patzold, Tim Nevins.
Well done guys, Great Effort!!!
Well done to Jason Russell, Scott Donnelly, Shane McKay, Angus Pascoe, Alex Morton & Scott
Colebrook from Ulladulla who have all just completed their Senior 1st Aid Certificates.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Canberra: In July Joblink Participants and Trainers will head to Canberra for three days as part of our
Australian Politics module. This trip enables us to assess the progress clients have made in many of
the Workskills for Life course modules, including: Money Management, Communication, Dress and
Hygiene and Community Access. The highlight of this trip is always our visit to the snow – something
many of our clients have never previously experienced.
Duke of Edinburgh’s (D.O.E) Award: A number of Joblink participants have enrolled in the D.O.E Award
at the Bronze level. This is an Internationally recognized award that promotes individual empowerment
through exploring potential. Participants must show commitment to goals in the areas of Physical Recreation,
Community Service (Volunteering) and development of a Skill of their choosing for a period of
3-6 months. At the completion of these three sections, participants will then attend an “Adventurous
Journey” in the form of trip away from home. Joblink congratulates those clients who have accepted
the challenge of completing their Bronze Award!
Work Experience Placements: For those clients seeking to enter Open Employment following the completion
of the Joblink program, Work Experience placements will begin soon. Participants and their
Trainers have begun sourcing placements, working on appropriate skills and presentation for the Industry
of their choice and identifying possible career options that may lead from these placements.
IP Reviews: It is almost half way through the year and as such, Individual Plan Review meetings will
soon be occurring again. Goals will be reviewed, progress discussed and action plans created for new
or modified goals. Participants and parents will be contacted to arrange a time and date for these
meetings.

Page 11
G E S U P DA T E
After completion of the First Year in Joblink’s Transition to Work program, participants who have set
“Open Employment” as a goal for themselves will move across to the Second Year of our program with
Greenacres Employment Solutions (GES).
This program involves intensive job skill training and job search skills needed to gain and maintain
permanent employment. Some topics covered in the program are time management, interview skills,
communication skills, resume’s and cover letters, goal setting, learners drivers knowledge test, touch
typing and first aid training.
Once again as a result of hard work and commitment, as the year has progressed most of our 2nd
year participants are now completing work experiences and some have found themselves in paid work
positions.
Stay tuned for our next newsletter to hear about everyone's work placement results.
N OW R A G E S
The second year group at Nowra GES have been very busy asserting themselves into many different
activities and work experiences over the last few months.
We have Mathew Hogan who has been working casually with Joyce Mayne, and also participated in
work experience with Kmart at the beginning of the year.
James McCoy who has been doing some volunteer work once a week at the Albatross Museum In
Nowra and has just begun work experience at the South Coast Register working with one of the journalists.
James has also been asked to write an article about his recent overseas travels for the newspaper!!!!
Brett Allen has commenced work experience at the Café Continental in Nowra working one day a week
assisting with cooking, cleaning and customer service. Brett is also attending TAFE one day a week
participating in the learner driver theory course.
Kurt Stewart will be participating in work experience with the firm fitness centre (Nowra) in June. Kurt
is also attending TAFE one day a week participating in the learner driver theory course (and passing
each lesson)!!!
Kurtis McEwen is starting his work experience on Monday at Illawarra Pet food Supplies in Albion Park,
assisting with general store duties.
And John McDonald has been participating in work experience over the last ten weeks at Nowra Chiropractic
Centre. As a result of all of John’s hard work and his positive and friendly attitude John has
been offered a permanent paid position one day a week as a Chiropractic Assistant.

Page 12
ULLADULLA
In sparkly new offices we welcomed our first Greenacres
participants in Ulladulla - Alex, Angus, Jason, Scott D,
Scott C and Shane. All local lads with great local knowledge
and even bordering on being local celebrities! We
couldn’t have asked for a nicer bunch for our very first
year.
The group has gelled well and there is a spirit of camaraderie
and all are making exceptional progress through
their Certificate I course. Over the months they have
shown their personalities and found their role within the
group, and each month we elect a student representative who assists the trainers and participants
with day to day tasks. Our first appointed Rep was Alex with Scott D coming in a close
second as Vice Rep. This month Angus bears the responsibility of Rep and Alex will assist him
as Vice; and we have no doubt they will rise to the challenge.
Socially these guys have grown and matured – our social outings
have seen improvements in many areas – we have introduced
volume control, suitable topics of conversation and
more awareness of those around us. As a group we have enjoyed
a number of trips – Mogo Zoo, Royal Easter Show, Putt
Putt Golf and lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Jason (who
I am sure is destined for a career in the media limelight!) has
also involved himself in community events including the inaugural Milton Ulladulla Cancer
Council Relay for Life, joining trainer Sarah’s relay team and staying for the 24 hour duration
of the event (very proud of you Jason) and also the Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet Festival
where he joined Gayle Dunn’s Dunn Lewis Centre team and dressed as a ‘pin’ (as in ten pin)
and walked the full length of the parade. If there’s fun to be had and a costume to be worn Jason
won’t be very far away!
As a community, Ulladulla is a very special part of the world and the guys recognise how lucky
they are to live here. It also makes community based projects much simpler to operate as you
would be very hard pushed to find a local who wouldn’t want to help if they could. We have
sourced free donations of materials, many donations of time from business owners, support
from community groups and special reduced fee arrangements at the gym – of which we are
very grateful. Our guys have also been able to approach local groups about the Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award and all have secured a volunteer placement – Well done to you all!

Brad Nakken
Page 13
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
School attended: Figtree High School
Certificates gained: Higher School Certificate
Favourite Activity at Joblink: Completing Volunteer work at St Pius X School
Canteen
Favourite Workskills for Life Module: Communication
Why?: Because the activities are interesting and can be funny
Accomplishments at Joblink: Enrolling in the Duke of Edinburgh's award
(Bronze Level) and increasing my self confidence.
Best memory at Joblink: Being able to go on the jumping pillow at Discovery.
Hobbies: Playing computer games and watching TV
What has attending Joblink helped me with: Increasing my self confidence
In Loving Memory
Greenacres Joblink suffered a great loss in December 2010 with the death of one of
our young participants Matthew Kurta. Matt was so full of enthusiasm and had the ability
to brighten your day with one of his many humorous stories or by you just seeing a
glimpse of his gorgeous smile.
Matt constantly worked hard to achieve his goals in life and was looking forward to
working this year with his friends at Greenacres Industries and with his outstanding
work skills he would have been a huge asset to us all.
Matt had a contagious love of life and combined good work ethics with humour,
enabling all of his co-workers and himself to work in a happy work environment.
Matt was one of the most caring participants, he would help out wherever and whenever
possible, building himself a good reputation and a close group of friends.
Matt will be missed by many but never forgotten.

Page 14
COMMUNITY
Minnamurra Rainforest. “We made it to the top!”
Wollongong Ambulance Station
Sea Cliff Bridge
The groups have had
some exciting
Community Access
activities already in
2011.
Some of these
include shopping,
cooking, Minnamurra
Sydney Wildlife World,
visiting the IMAX
Theatre, Train and
ferry rides and many,
many more
adventures
Go Brenna!!!
Wollongong Police Station
Healthy Cooking Program

Page 15
ACCESS
Healthy Cooking Program
Wollongong Ambulance Station
Training with the Illawarra Dragons
Nan Tien Temple
Wollongong Harbour
Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
Minnamurra Rainforest

Joblink Offices
31 Auburn Street
Wollongong
Ph—4225 3478
Fax—4225 3572
86 Smith St
Wollongong
Ph—4225 7806
21 Gould Ave
Nowra
Ph— 4422 8954
141 St Vincents St
Ulladulla
Ph—4454 1698
WHERE ARE THEY
NOW?
Name: Amy Parsons
School: Albion Park High
Years with Joblink: 2009-2010
Since her time at Joblink Amy has
been one of the first participants to
fully complete her Bronze Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award and has put lots
and lots of time doing volunteer work
with the RSPCA. Amy’s passion for
animals and commitment to Work
Experience has definitely paid off and
she is now working at The
Companion Animal Veterinary
Hospital in Dapto washing dogs.
No appointments necessary just come
in and speak with Amy on
Saturday’s 8.30-12pm or Wednesday's
8.30-12.30.
Ph: 4261 9838.
Page 16
Name: David Harkin
School: Para Meadows
Years with Joblink: 2009-2010
David also started with Joblink in
2009. Working hard on his Workplace
behaviour and maturity, we
have seen David transform from a
School Student to an Adult.
After much hard work and commitment
to his Work Experience and
Paid Work Trial, David has now been
employed permanently with Greenacres
Industries.
Well done David, Keep up the good
work!!!