Cheryl Buscemi-le- brun
Sports coach
At age 55, athletics has an enduring appeal for Cheryl Buscemi-le-brun that sees her hurl the shotput, discus and javelin at national disability competitions.
As the Innisfail woman tells young people today, she was discouraged from playing sport at school as an amputee and wheelchair user.
“My message to children when I visit schools is that people with a disability can play sports,” Cheryl says.
“I am passionate about letting them know there are opportunities to get out there and play sport regardless of your age, disability or any other challenges.”
Cheryl’s is one of the inspirational stories told in the Department of Communities annual Share Your Story calendar.
www.communities.qld.gov.au/disability and click on community involvement
Barbara Birkoff
Lifeline volunteer
Some callers to Lifeline’s phone counselling service at Rockhampton are fortunate enough to have the benefit of Barbara Birkoff’s 32 years of experience as a counsellor.
During the state’s disastrous summer of 2011, flood- and cyclone-affected residents who attended recovery centres at Mackay, Emerald and Tully received Barbara’s sound counsel.
Now 72, she received her training with Lifeline’s Townsville operations. She says most counselling calls still relate to relationship and family problems, “and with some, their job situation”.
“The important thing for most callers is that they can speak anonymously,” Barbara says.
“Counselling and helping people, for me, is helping people to help themselves, to open up options they perhaps haven’t seen because they are too involved.”
Ehon Chan
Research consultant
For some non-profit organisations, making use of emerging communication technologies in their daily operations can be a challenge.
Step forward Ehon Chan, 24, a Brisbane research and innovation consultant.
Volunteering Queensland is one organisation that was pleased to use Ehon’s ideas when it developed a flood recovery outreach and engagement strategy.
International Volunteer Day 2010 also saw him voluntarily sharing his knowledge at a Department of Communities symposium.
Ehon and a colleague have also launched a non-profit venture, YES Brisbane, which aims to resource and support young people to launch their ideas and ventures.
“It’s not every day you get to save someone’s life but every day offers opportunities to affect one,” he says.
Michelle Covele
Foster carer
Michelle Covele has been a foster carer for the past five years and has fostered more than 40 children while also raising six of her own children.
She decided to become a foster carer when her own foster parent was dying.
“If I can make even one child’s life better, then it’s all worth it,” says Michelle, who lives at Ripley, near Ipswich.
Each year, the school teacher and her husband Malcolm hold a fete for disadvantaged local children.
Her advice is “Take each day as it comes...baby steps.
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have," she says.
http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/childsafety/foster-care
Meg Davis
Multicultural worker
For 30 years Meg Davis has been committed to social justice.
As manager of the Townsville Multicultural Support Group Inc, Meg helps the voices of culturally and linguistically diverse women to be heard.
“We are working with the city council to support refugees and migrants. In July 2009, the council declared itself a refugee welcome zone,” Meg says.
“I would say Townsville is more responsive to today’s migrant and refugees’ needs but one of the
biggest hurdles still faced is finding employment.
“Refugees and migrants need employment for security and to bring economic power and stability to their lives.”
Meg features in an online tribute gallery to mark International Women’s Day. Go to www.communities.qld.gov.au/women and click on Everyday women, extraordinary lives tribute gallery.
Melanie Gordon
Engineering manager
Not just satisfied with making a success of her career, engineering manager Melanie Gordon “walks
the talk” in every sense of the saying.
At just 29, Melanie was BHP Billiton's youngest mine operations manager. She actively encourages other women to take up careers in the resources industry.
“It is good to see more women coming into our industry, but we still have a way to go yet,” says Melanie, now employed at the Broadmeadow mine near Moranbah in central Queensland.
As a role model for women working in non-traditional roles, Melanie initiated the first regional networking group in Queensland for women in the resources industry.
Melanie features in an online tribute gallery to mark International Women’s Day. Go to www.communities.qld.gov.au/women
Louise Remilton
Volunteer
Six years ago Brisbane woman Louise Remilton was diagnosed with the rare and debilitating neurological disorder, transverse myelitis.
“It is so rare that I remember well the feeling of isolation I had then,” says Louise. “This has driven my passion for volunteering with the Spinal Injuries Association to support newly diagnosed patients.”
Louise overcomes the physical effects of the disorder by using a walking stick.
When Transverse Myelitis Day was held for the first time in Australia last year, Louise finally met another person with the disease. She has since met many others, along with experts in the field, at a conference in the United States last September.
Transverse Myelitis Day 2011, May 17, saw Louise intimately involved, “offering support and information so new patients won’t be so alone in their journey with TM”.
Hannah Suarez
Young volunteer
Hannah Suarez loves working in the creative industries and volunteers to help spread the word about Brisbane’s creative side.
Hannah created Brisbane Creative Industries with a partner agency to promote the professional development of emerging and established creative industries professionals.
“I’m passionate about volunteering and the creative industries and am really into interactive media, so to be able to mix these elements together is very satisfying,” says Hannah, who has received the Arts and Culture Young Volunteer Award last year.
“It’s important that we help with the development of emerging and established creative industries professionals in Brisbane and beyond.”
Hannah writes a blog profiling emerging and established creative professionals.
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