Article from Thornhill Manor Gazette
Erene recently joined Thornhill Manor as its community care coordinator. The new position was much-needed and has been widely welcomed by staff and residents alike.
Erene is truly a fine choice for this key work and will further enhance the amazing Thornhill Manor lifestyle. She has a wealth of experience across a broad spectrum of social work.
Throughout her life, Erene has had a special link working with senior citizens. “I can remember growing up with lots of elderly people because my mother had a special interest in caring for them,” says Erene.
After obtaining her degree at Wits University, she gained a wealth of social work experience over a period of 17 years. Her first position was with the Johannesburg Care for the Aged Association. “I somehow have had good links with seniors for a long time.”
Erene’s career spanned the full spectrum of social work.
“I was very blessed to have worked with people struggling with their eyes, including rehabilitation work for people who were newly blinded; through to family restoration, gender-based violence, adverse childhood experiences and people dealing with traumatic incidents.”
Her career included running her own practice for 11 years, with a focus on family restoration work. “This provided exposure to needs ranging from addiction to family conflicts and other challenges of life.”
It was a natural progression for her to join Thornhill Manor. “I’m thrilled to be part of such a competent team and to be among beautiful people.”
Erene glows when she talks about the Eden Alternative values which have been adopted by Rand Aid, describing them as ‘magnificent and aligned to the core values of social work’. This encompasses respect for independence through to looking at joy and meaningful activities. “It depends on what is meaningful for each individual,” Erene says.
She has a clear direction and vision for her work at Thornhill: “My first challenges will be to help new residents to settle into the village and, as life happens, to assist all residents to adapt to those changes (sometimes very big and quite daunting). These include loss of family members who decide to move abroad, grief, bereavement, loss of mobility, vision or hearing that deeply affect our lives.”
Erene plans to do both one-on-one and group chats. “I’m a gung ho group worker.”
She needs residents’ participation to make her work meaningful. “I am reliant on residents’ input and ideas concerning areas of focus,” she says.
A lovely and experienced lady, Erene is bubbling with enthusiasm and will add great value to Thornhill Manor.