– Hi, my name’s Nicole Kondogiannis, and I’m the director of people and culture here at Wellways. I’m currently on Wurundjeri land down here in Melbourne at Fairfield, where our head office is. My pronouns are she/her, and I love working at Wellways. Wellways, for me, is an organization that does hard work with the most vulnerable in the community, and our staff are amazing people. Our frontline staff are committed. We’ve got back of office staff who support the work that we do with our participants. And, you know, I look the lens of the last twelve months, and I see people that have worked through pandemic and really challenging times. They front up to work every day, and they give their best. So it’s great being here, and I think that’s a testament to our culture and to the values that we’ve got at the organization.
– [Narrator] We are proudly open, inclusive, respectful, diverse, and supportive. We are a team of 2000. From wellbeing and support workers to art therapists, counselors, and peer workers.
– I love that I get to meet new people all the time. I get to hear about all the incredible things that they have in their lives. Even when people are having hard times, they always have things to share. And, yeah, bein’ able to do things like I did a yoga session on Monday. And I’ve been out in the garden, and I’ve done art and craft, and baking, and all these things that are personal hobbies as well. Yeah, it’s really nice to be able to say that I can do that as part of my job.
– What moments during your experience of homelessness gave you hope?
– Well, number one, that I’ve touched on, I guess, is definitely my dog, Cammy. The next massive part of hope, which I cannot speak highly enough, is Wellways.
– So, first of all, why are we doing this now at Wellways? Where did it come from? Why are we talking about Acknowledgment of Country, and making that more broad in the organization? Why are we talking about pronoun use? Well, actually, it’s come from you guys. And so, really, in response to those questions, we’ve got together, and we’ve thought about how do we let people know when they first join Wellways, or when they first come into a Wellways office, or when they first open our website that this is a welcoming place?
– I love every day coming to work. I love connecting with people. It feels like I get an opportunity to use the best skills that I have. And, yeah, and I just find that the day goes really quickly.
– Working at Wellways is so important, and the people I’ve spoken to are really proud of the work that our organization does. And all I can say is it’s been a fantastic year, and everyone’s contribution has shown just how good Wellways is.
