Meet our people

Angus: We definitely do have that feeling of making a difference in people's lives. Getting to watch people move into a property, sort of make it their own home.

They might have been homeless for however long or never really had a place that they're able to call them their own, and getting to assist them along the way, it’s a very good feeling.

Sarah: I’m a RentConnect officer. I generally deal with private housing products, and that's a number of different products we have to help people.

The feeling I get coming into work and knowing I'm having that positive difference to people's lives has been fantastic. It makes me feel like I'm doing a lot more.

Josias: Working for the Department of Housing, you get a lot of opportunities. If you work for one role, you don't just work for that for the entire time. There's always an opportunity for you to grow.

Angus: Never a dull day, always busy. It's that initial point for customers to come in, get access to all our services, whether that's our RentConnect services or want to apply for government social housing.

Josias: Working as a Housing Officer, there is always a lot of challenges, but there's always a support.

Sarah: So, there's a real proactive approach in the office and I like that, it's a real sense of working together.

Angus: I think the work is challenging. There's plenty of people I know I could go debrief with after a tough interaction or a tough situation.

Sarah: It's a great environment, we get customers from all walks of life, so you'll meet very interesting people. It's really good to hear their stories, their history, their background, what they've been through
and then be able to get a really great outcome for them.

Josias: I love helping people, and working for the department and this role, that's what I love most.

[Jenneclair, Simon’s sister, speaking]

Simon's been here now for 15 days and in those 15 days, I've seen a huge change.

He's up at the crack of dawn. He’s up, he’s moving, he gets himself ready, comes out, makes a cuppa, feeds Tom, looks after Tom.

Those things were things he wasn't doing easily in the old house at all.

[Simon speaking through iPad]

I love that I can get in and out of my house easily. It is all on the flat.

I have access to all areas of my home easily.

[Jenneclair]

Our father had passed away a couple of years ago and Simon wanted to stay living in the family home. He'd been there for 47 years, didn't want to move.

He also then got his power chair, which increased his independence. And we discovered that the house wasn't suitable with that, with the power chair and he made the decision that he would be prepared to move.

[Simon speaking through iPad]

I love the wide hallway and open plan design.

I love that I can get into my kitchen and up to my sink. I'm looking forward to doing lots of cooking in my new kitchen.

[Jenneclair]

You can put your things in the sink quite easily now, too, can’t you?

[Simon speaking]

Yeah. Yep.

[Jenneclair]

He wanted a home that was going to be easily accessible, one that he could get, you know, get into the laundry and do his own laundry. He wanted to do that but couldn't.

[Simon speaking through iPad]

I love the path to the washing line. So, now doing my own laundry will be so much easier for me.

[Jenneclair]

Housing were excellent in being able to listen to Simon's needs and what Simon was wanting.

[Simon speaking through iPad]

I love the location. I'm close to the shops and will be able to go and get things I need on my own. I don't need to ask others to go and get things for me.

[Jenneclair]

He's got a new lease, definitely got a new lease on life. Really!

[Simon speaking through iPad]

I love that I can be independent.

I can do it.

Cheyenne: About ten years ago, I was very much a teenager, very much a baby, had no life experience, I was living in my car. Big dog, small car.

I decided after about six weeks that it would be a great idea to maybe ask for a little bit of help.

Without sugarcoating it, it’s a traumatising experience.

I genuinely thought that I had hit rock bottom and, not, again, not sugarcoating, not lying, I had.

I was living on the streets. I was living out of the back of my car. I was hardly showering. I wasn't eating.

Kim: We went into an interview room and we talked about her story.

Cheyenne: Kim straight up said, is your dog in your car? I said, yes, he's he's in the car. The aircon is running.

And she goes, well, one, your car's probably going to end up stolen, and two, why is your dog in your car?

Like, he's got nowhere else to go.

Kim said, go and grab him.

Kim: We got her into a hotel, emergency accommodation. And the best thing about it was that Cheyenne got to keep her dog. And that was a really big thing for me. I'm a such an animal lover, and I truly understand when someone's homeless, sometimes their pet or their dog is all that they've got.

Cheyenne: After that one 30-minute session, I actually felt like I had hope for once.

Kim: Fast forward nine years later, I was working in our Business Readiness Team in the city, and, I came out to do a training session with the HSC, the Logan HSC staff.

Cheyenne: And I'm sitting in the conference room and I'm staring at Kim and I'm like, you are so familiar.

Kim: I saw her sitting there as a staff member, I was like, what are you doing? And she said, Kim, I'm a trainee here now at the Logan HSC. And I was like, what?

And this, like, still makes me so emotional, she said, that moment that you spent with me, I've always thought about it, and I wanted to give back to the community and people what you gave to me.

And, like, we forget sometimes the impact that we have on our customers.

Cheyenne: All I've wanted since Kim handed me that step up in life is to be able to do the same thing for someone else.

Kim: Cheyenne's story is just an absolute, the best case of the work that we do, how important that it really is. And we can really make a difference in people's lives.

Cheyenne: I want to be someone who can help someone move forward in their life and realise that just because you've hit rock bottom doesn't mean you’re stuck there.

Roan: I'm Roan, I'm a carpenter and I'm working in Milton at Sports House.

This building got rain damage so the water came in through the roof, fell through two storeys. The walls were wet.

So we've basically just done a full rip out, dry it out, test it all, make sure it's all good to go and then re-sheet it. New carpets, new everything.

Originally I'm from Canada. I've lived in Australia for seven years now. I moved here in high school. My dad got a job here, finished up school, took on an apprenticeship.

I've only been with QBuild for two years now.

I was looking around at jobs and QBuild really stood out as somewhere I wanted to work. Nice work-life balance, interesting work. I got sent up for Cyclone Jasper as well, so this is my second time doing this type of work.

Feels good to do this work after Alfred because you see people getting back to work and getting back to their normal routine. They're always very appreciative of what we've done.

It's good. It's hard work, but I enjoy it.