It was amazing to find an organisation where the focus was on being friendly and kind to people.”
Marcela Barra, member of QPASTT’s Support Services Team since 2011
“I started on a work placement with QPASTT and I thought ‘it would be so good if I got a job here,’ because I loved it here from the first moment. I felt like I fit in so well with the team – that I was in the right place. Later, an opportunity came up and I ended up working full time with QPASTT.
I didn’t know at first that an organisation like QPASTT existed. I come from a country that was going through a very hard time a long time ago and no one there was providing these kinds of services for people who have survived torture. I thought this is a great country and a great organisation to be supporting people who have suffered so much. Coming from a corporate and sales background, it was amazing to find an organisation where the focus was on being friendly and kind to people, and a place where you are nurtured as a staff member.
Many clients are taken by surprise when they find out this is a free service – you can feel how that is such a big relief for them, especially for clients who are not financially well off and really need support to help them rebuild their futures. It’s a really big thing to be able to play a role like that in someone’s life, to play a small part in their healing.”
25 Years of Welcome – QPASTT’s Support Services Team
As part of our 25 year celebrations, we’re sharing the reflections of our Support Services team. They are the first point of welcome for our clients, stakeholders and staff. They are highly skilled, demonstrating the power of presence and kindness each day and creating a safe space to hold people in moments of great pain and distress.
While their stories share their thoughts on what it takes to cultivate this daily practice of kindness, care and dignity for people who have endured so much, their common reflection is of how supporting refugee survivors at QPASTT has been a consistent source of personal and professional growth that continues to deepen their own empathy and compassion.
