“It’s strange how life comes full circle. For 25 years, I provided care for others through what became Gippsland Lakes Complete Health…now I’m the one receiving that same care I used to give,” Helen Gibson said.
“I reckon I understand it from both sides now.”
In a small community, a health organisation can be both somewhere you or your family receive support, and where you work.
That crossover has been part of Gippsland Lakes Complete Health’s (GLCH) 50-year history.
One example is Helen Gibson – a former support worker who now receives care through a Home Care Package.
Helen worked at GLCH through to 2021, when she was 80 years old. Her caring career spanned 45 years, including 25 years with GLCH and 20 with council.
She joined the team in 1996, when more than 100 home care staff moved from East Gippsland Shire Council to what was then
Lakes Entrance Community Health Centre.
“Working in home care gave me a reason to get up every day,” Helen said.
“The thing about this work is you meet the most beautiful people – people you’d never have met otherwise.
“There’s still some today that stop and say, ‘I remember you. You used to come to my mum or my dad’. They still remember me, and it’s lovely. ”
Helen mainly worked with clients in Lakes Entrance, where she has lived for almost 50 years.
Over the years she saw many changes at GLCH – from council-led support services to the introduction of electronic rostering. She didn’t love all of it, especially the tech changes, but the people made it worthwhile.
“That’s what this work taught me – everyone has their struggles, and sometimes people are grumpy because they’re hurting. But if you stick with it, if you really try to understand what they need, you can break through those walls.”
Helen has lots to look forward to. Her memories will feature in a history booklet GLCH will launch at a community celebration in October.
Titled The story of Gippsland Lakes Complete Health. Pioneering community health in East Gippsland, the booklet draws on dozens of interviews with current and former staff, CEOs and board members.
October will be a busy month for Helen – her oldest grandson is getting married, and she’ll become a great-grandmother in November.
Helen values the support workers who now help her to stay living independently.
It’s work she knows well.
“That’s what real care work is about – not just the tasks you perform, but the relationships you build, the dignity you preserve, and the way you help people feel valued and remembered,” she said.
“I may have retired, but those connections, those memories, those moments of human kindness – they last forever.”
GLCH will celebrate its history at a community event on October 11 at the Jemmeson Street site.
