May’s story

May was self-employed for many years, but when her husband passed away, she had to sell their business and start over. She relied on her savings while she looked for work, however finding a new job was hard and took longer than expected. May felt out of touch as she hadn’t had to look for work for a long time. “To start again was really hard,” she says. “I have to be working to be effective in life and I found it very hard to find a job.”

May was referred to YFS when she was looking for help to sort out some financial issues. YFS Financial Counsellor, Kristine spoke to May’s lender and her mortgage payments were put on hold while she was looking for work which was a big relief.

At the same time, May was also connected to the Spark Employment Mentoring team for support with her job search. The team helped May to re-write her resume and set up a Seek profile, they linked her to job vacancies, and provided practical support. May says, “Vanessa and Alysha’s help was really effective. They sent me job opportunities that suited me, called to check how things are going, and would always follow up.”

Within a few weeks May received several job offers. She is now working full time and has already been promised a manager’s position.

May is enjoying her new role and is grateful to be working again, both for her financial situation and her health. “It’s hard when I’m not working. When I came back to work, I felt like I’m a teenager again.”

May immediately saw benefits to her mental and general health. “I believe that when I move, I don’t have time to be sick. Financial is important, but I don’t put that first. I always say I don’t work for money; I work for living.”

“The main lesson I have learned is that I can’t do everything by myself. My help was – I want to say, YFS – I don’t want to name individual names. Everyone here is appreciated.”