As a new Community Support Worker at Doncare, I welcomed the opportunity to receive some training for the role, funded by Doncare; the course provided by CISVIC more than met my expectations.

Conducted by experienced social worker Deborah Rosenberg at CISVIC headquarters in Little Collins Street, the course was spread over six Wednesdays (9.30 am to 4.00 pm) with a two-week break in the middle for completion of assessment tasks at our respective agencies. The assessment tasks required participants to become familiar with their agencies’ procedures and to both observe and conduct a number of interviews.

Part of the value of the course lay in meeting participants from other agencies. My class included volunteers from City Life in Manningham, from Monash, Chelsea, Glen Eira and Camberwell (Camcare) Support Services, from Essendon Citizens Advice Bureau and from an organisation called India Care, just starting up to support people from Indian backgrounds.

It was valuable to have some appreciation of the varying needs of different geographical areas of Melbourne and the wide variety in the type and extent of support that could be offered by different agencies. Doncare emerged as a privileged place to work due to our excellent facilities and range of services.