If they turned the community of Orbost into a gangster movie, Belinda Borley would be “the fixer.”
“When people need something, if they need a little help, they give me a call.”
And, just like that fictional fixer, her job is to make problems disappear.
Belinda is part of Orbost Regional Health’s Community and Home Support Services team, where her role is to schedule the 30-odd community carers currently on the ORH roster to provide services to the more than 460 people in the community that have requested assistance.
Here’s how it works.
Say you had an operation a few days ago, you’re out of the hospital and you’re recovering at home.
Or perhaps you’re at an age where you need help with a few chores at home, like mowing the lawn or doing big loads of laundry.
You call ORH and, if you qualify, they assess your needs and schedule their carers in the community to visit your home and provide domestic assistance, home help and home maintenance, meals on wheels and other services.
“The goal is to help people stay in their homes, if that’s what they want to do, for as long as they can be there,” Belinda said. “We know that being independent is important to a lot of people, particularly folks from around here that are used to being able to manage by themselves.”
“I absolutely love it. In this job you really feel like you’re doing good in the community - that you’re helping people that need you.
Belinda would know about people from around here. Born and raised in Orbost, she is one of many ORH employees with deep roots in this community, which she says is a real asset in the job.
“Yeah, when people call or drop by it’s nice that they often know the person they’re talking to,” she said. “Particularly if they’re a little uncertain, or feeling vulnerable. Sometimes you need a familiar face, someone you know.”
Belinda came to this work relatively late in life.
For almost 20 years she worked in the Orbost Travel Centre (“the pink building”), before a short stint in property management.
She says joining ORH in 2021 was the best career move she’s ever made.
“I absolutely love it,” Belinda says. “In this job you really feel like you’re doing good in the community - that you’re helping people that need you. I do hear a lot of appreciation, and that’s really nice.”
Want to learn more about ORH’s Community and Home Support Services?
Visit www.orbostregionalhealth.com.au/home-based-services, call 5154 6623, or drop in and visit them at 45 Forest Road.