A carer at heart

From caring for the child of a lead Cirque du Soleil performer touring Japan to sitting on the banks of a creek in Northcote helping homeless people access support, Gabrielle Nunan has certainly had a varied career path into aged care.

But the Bendigo-based Uniting AgeWell Client Advisor couldn’t be happier. “I love working with older people,” she says. “I’m honoured to hear their stories and to help them live their best lives.”

She joined Uniting AgeWell just over a year ago and finds working in aged care hugely rewarding. And although she has been in a number of different roles, caring underpins them all. “I guess I’m just a natural born carer,” Gabrielle says. “If I can use my skills to make life better and easier for people, then I’m happy.”

And she has certainly gained many valuable skills over the years.

Gabrielle was born in Cobram, a town along the Murray River, and when she finished school helped run three bookstores in Melbourne. When that chapter of her life came to an end, she got into caring roles.

In her early 20’s Gabrielle studied for an Advanced Certificate in Residential and Community Care and started work as a Respite House Supervisor for children with disabilities. She also worked at Kew Cottages in running creative and recreational programs for people that lived there.

She ran programs for older people and their adult children with disabilities, helping them and their parents as they transitioned to care outside the family home. And she worked in Supported Residential Services, linking homeless and marginalised people with health care and services.

“I remember sitting on the banks of a creek in Northcote, talking to older homeless people and making them aware of services they could access,” she explains.

She also helped run programs and services for older people in high-rise government housing.

Gabrielle had two stints living overseas – she spent three months in America where she cared for a woman who had Alzheimer ’s disease and also helped to paint a large public mural. And she spent a few months in Sri Lanka helping a friend who needed someone to manage her modelling career.

Gabrielle is also an artist. She studied both Art Therapy and Fine Art. She does photography, print-making and paintings – mainly of landscape, still life and portraits.

And she is looking forward to hanging more of her artwork on the walls of her lovely Bendigo home that she shares with her dog Bowie (named after David Bowie).

“I would really love to hold an art exhibition in Bendigo one day,” she says.