Disability student steps closer to dream career

When Levi Lamb was just 13 years old, his mum Karen began her fight against stage four melanoma cancer. Nearly a decade later, Karen battles on and, at age 21, Levi is motivated by his time caring for her as he works towards his dream career in the disability support sector.

Thanks to IMPACT Community Services’ CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support –⁠ Disability course, he’s weeks away from making his dream a reality.

He may be a fresh face in the disability space, but Levi said he’s got eight years of experience looking after his mum, taking on tasks for the first time, tasks that most teenagers couldn’t comprehend.

“It’s really shown me how to care for somebody. It’s actually brought me joy,” Levi said.

“I like seeing people achieve their goals and live as independently as possible.”

On top of his mum’s illness, Levi’s nephew has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities, while his nana is showing early signs of Alzheimer’s, adding to his first-hand knowledge.

However, while Levi has wisdom beyond his years in the hands-on art of personal care, he’s never had employment.

His disability training journey started when he told his youth employment agency, yourtown, that his heart was set on the disability industry. As a Registered Training Organisation (RTO Code 0115), IMPACT was an obvious choice for yourtown’s team, who connected Levi with the organisation’s Disability Training and Assessor, Julie Wilcox.

Julie said that it took Levi a few weeks to find his feet. Having started the course two weeks late, he was under pressure from the get-go. Add to this his struggle to read and write, a product of his disrupted schooling, and it was no wonder that Levi was falling behind.

However, he was in good hands, because support is what IMPACT does best. In addition to assistive technology such as text-to-speech, Levi was backed by IMPACT’s new Student Support Coach, Christine Ortt, whose one-on-one support proved to be a turning point.

Drawing on her background as a skilled disability support worker, Chrissy spent days working alongside Levi, helping him navigate his learning challenges by breaking complex information into smaller, manageable pieces and building his confidence step by step.

Julie said Chrissy’s calm, practical approach helped Levi realise that his learning difficulties did not define his ability or his future.

“He suddenly realised he could do it,” Julie said.

“He took off and completed units to the end of the class, way before class was meant to be finished.”

Levi said the course is everything he hoped for, and he credits Julie and her 17 years of industry experience for the leaps and bounds he’s made since starting the 22-week class in February.

“I love this course. I really enjoy it,” Levi said. “It makes me happy because this is my dream job.”

“Julie is a really big thing in my life because she’s helped me and she’s a really good trainer.

“It just makes sense now and it’s opened my eyes to a lot of things.”

Julie said the disability sector will be lucky to have Levi, who brings a rare form of empathy and a lovely nature.

“He’s helpful. He’s always trying to do something for me. He’s just got a beautiful personality,” Julie said.

To put their learnings into practice, every disability student completes 120 hours of work experience over six weeks in the Bundaberg community.

Levi is continuing to learn and grow at Care Right Associates, a local disability service. He’s trying his hand at everything from feeding clients to supporting them with personal care.

Julie said that placements offer an ideal opportunity for students to get their foot in the door, with students who play their cards right often securing employment with their placement organisation.

She tries to match each student to a service provider that suits them, and after a representative from the service provider guest presented to the class, Julie knew Care Right Associates was the place for Levi.

Levi couldn’t agree more. He said he’s got his eye on a career at Care Right Associates that spans far beyond his placement.

“They’ve got a heap of variety. They’ve got music things, learning to cook. They go tubing,” he said.

“It makes me happy that there's companies out there that are making the disability sector more independent.”

As Levi nears the end of his studies, his mum’s journey to recovery isn’t over yet. Having recently been diagnosed with myeloid leukemia on top of her melanoma, she has been calling a hospital in Brisbane home for the last three months as she receives treatment.

However, Levi said he sees light at the end of the tunnel.

“I love my mum so much, and she’s come a long way,” Levi said.

“She’s a fighter. It’s been a long haul, but she’s getting there.”

Levi’s story is proof that good can come from bad, and through a combination of training, persistence and passion, dreams really can come true.

If you share Levi’s passion and want to gain accredited training in disability work, learn more about IMPACT’s Certificate III disability course at https://impact.org.au/employment-training/certificate-lll-training-courses/certificate-lll-disability/

The Skilling Queenslanders for Work project is proudly funded and supported by the Queensland Government.