Real stories about our care and home modification services
Mavis Paterson
Helping Hands Care Services Client
The secret to living to 101 years old? Helping Hands client Mavis Paterson might not have all the answers, but an independent attitude along with a little assistance around the house has helped the spirited centenarian live life on her own terms.
Mavis has lived in her well-kept, sunny Tuncurry home since 2000, collecting 23 years of happy memories. It’s where she celebrated her 100th birthday in 2021, in socially distanced COVID style, with her neighbours and long-term housemate – 82-year-old daughter Doreen.
The closely bonded pair laugh easily, poking fun at each other. They’ve lived together for 17 years and maintain a vibrant social life. “We do everything together. We’ve always got on well together”, says Doreen.
The mother-daughter duo can be spotted out and about visiting the local club, meeting with friends from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and participating in activities like trivia or trips to Port Macquarie with the Travel Club.
“We have so many friends at the club,” says Doreen, “If we’re not there, they ask where we are!”.
Aside from socialising, Mavis spends her time cleaning her immaculate home and making sure Helping Hands Care Worker Larry Fulton doesn’t miss a spot.
Helping Hands provides a range of services to empower clients to stay in their own homes for longer – and Mavis is a shining example. Care giver Larry is almost a part of the furniture; he’s been assisting Mavis with home care for nearly nine years, when she was just 93. She’s set to turn 102 in August and has no plans to move.
While Mavis is quick to say she doesn’t need much help around the house, she admits, “It’s nice to have someone come in and do the floors for me; it saves me pushing the vacuum around”.
Larry assists with the ‘hard work’, and Mavis takes care of the rest – just as she likes it. She says, “I do what I can do myself, but Helping Hands helps me in the way I need”.
Doreen says Larry goes over and above.
“If we need Larry for anything, we only need to call the girls in the office, and he’ll be there”.
Mavis was directed to Helping Hands from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through Veterans’ Home Care. She receives a regular fortnightly domestic assistance service.
Mavis says word-of-mouth is important to make sure people are inviting care workers they can trust into their homes. Mavis and Doreen both recommend Larry and Helping Hands, saying, “It’s nice to have someone like that who you can trust in your own home”.
Helping Hands provides care and building services to empower people to live well in their own homes, for longer.
“I do what I can do myself, but Helping Hands helps me in the way I need.”
Mavis Paterson
Margaret Whitley
Helping Hands Care Services Client
Helping Hands client Margaret Whitley always wanted to move close to the ocean. So, when her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren moved to Tuncurry from rural NSW town Griffith a few years ago, the war widow jumped at the chance for a sea change.
“It’s friendly, and it has lovely weather. It’s just very relaxing. Even here at the village, I can hear the ocean at night.”
Now that she calls Tuncurry home, she lives happily in a quiet retirement village close to her family. Her favourite thing about it? She has her own space. She says, “My husband was in a nursing home for 17 years after the war, and my mum was in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s for 25 years. That’s why it means so much to be in my own home. To have my independence.”
Margaret is determined to maintain her lifestyle, but she says that with her bad knee and shoulder, cleaning can be a challenge, “I can’t put clothes on the line anymore, and I can’t make the bed properly”. However, with home care support from Helping Hands Care Worker Lyn, she can overcome these challenges and maintain the independence she values so highly.
She says “I don’t think I could cope if Lyn wasn’t here,” but “If I have people like Lyn to help me, I’m happy to stay in my own home for as long as I can.”
Margaret has received weekly home care support from Helping Hands for three years and says,
“Helping Hands Care Service is 100% worthwhile. I welcome Wednesdays with open arms because I just think, beauty! My house is going to be clean. It’s wonderful to think I’ve got someone who can make me feel fantastic again”.
Lyn and Margaret have bonded over their shared love of the show The 1% Club, spilling their answers to each other when Lyn walks in the door every Wednesday. But while they get along like a house on fire, Margaret says, “Lyn always gets in and gets the work done first. Every time she comes, there’s always something different to do”.
When she’s not at home, the proud grandmother spends time with her grandchildren, helping with school pick-ups and after-school activities, or joins in at the regular game nights at the village meeting hall. “We play cards like Canasta and Scrabble. If they have trivia, I do the questions”, she says. Margaret also likes to visit her favourite local spots – The Recky and Tuncurry Bowling Club – with her old knitting group.
While lately Margaret has been home more often than usual, awaiting knee surgery, she says, “Once I get my knee done, you might not see me for dust!”
Margaret was directed to Helping Hands from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs through Veterans’ Home Care. She receives a regular weekly domestic assistance service.
Helping Hands provides care and building services to empower people to live well in their own homes, for longer.
“If I have people like [Helping Hands Care Worker] Lyn to help me, I’m happy to stay in my own home as long as I can.”
Margaret Whitley
