A career spent making a difference
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Following a career in social work spanning 45 years Rob Oosterhof is taking a wellearned break.
Rob said goodbye to the Warragul Salvation Army last Sunday after seven years in the role as the church’s “Doorways” case manager. He was farewelled and presented with a special recognition plaque in front of the congregation and guests at the Warragul corps’ 140th anniversary celebration.
Rob has worked in the social work field for most of his adult life after graduating from the Institute of Social Welfare in 1978.
During the past 45 years he has held a variety of positions in a number of government departments and non-profit organisations across Australia. Having worked in child protection services and health centres as well as stints with both the Salvation Army and other non-profit organisations, he has worked all over Victoria and in the Northern Territory in Alice Springs.
Rob’s position with the Warragul Salvation Army in its Doorways program has seen him take on roles covering family relationship breakdowns, emergency relief, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse cases.
The Doorways program is aimed at providing financial relief services, including emergency relief in addition to case management with referrals to both internal and external support services. It aims to support people to make changes in their lives to achieve their goals. The program works at the community coalface helping people regain control of their finances through early education and prevention strategies for those at risk.
“Through their profile in the community, the Salvos are known as a bit of a one stop shop,” Rob says. “While we cannot always solve every problem, we try to do everything to provide help to people who need it.”
Rob has seen a lot in his 45 years in the job. While there have been many positive outcomes for his clients, he also has been witness to a number of very challenging situations and as such has strived to keep some sort of separation from work and his own life.
“While I have always been passionate about what I do - and I’ve seen a lot of really good stuff, but I have also seen some really bad stuff - so I have always been strong on identifying this as my ‘job’.”
Despite this, Rob’s time in his profession has had many moments of reward. “It’s been interesting,” he says, while there have been some ups and downs, we have had some wonderful outcomes for a lot of people over the years.”
One of the biggest problems Rob sees in cities and towns like Warragul is there is less community connection than what existed when he began his career. “When I started, the community seemed to be more connected. If someone was in trouble, it was easier to get straight onto the problem. Today, it seems that more people are isolated even
though they are living in a larger population - and there is a lot more bureaucracy to negotiate.”
Despite this trend, Rob says organisations like the Salvos continue to be vital as they still provide that community connection and support that is so important.
Another problem Rob has noticed more recently in society is the well documented increase in cost of living pressure in the economy.
“It’s incredibly difficult, but we are seeing a lot of people having to choose between feeding their kids, paying their rent or getting their own medication.”
“When people are forced to make these difficult choices, they often need to turn to organisations like us - even if only six months ago they would have never dreamed of needing the Salvos.”
Rental pressure and the fact people are one small problem away from crisis also plays on Rob’s mind. “From a missed rent payment or a flat tyre, a lot of people are only a couple of small steps to a major crisis.”
Majors Jenni and Lindsay Frost are the
Corps Officers (church ministers) at Warragul Salvation Army and they were on hand to farewell Rob alongside federal Member for Monash Russell Broadbent and state Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham.
Jenni paid special tribute to Rob. “Over the seven years of serving people in our community, Rob certainly heard many accounts of hardships from people who came seeking a hand up out of the challenging situations they were facing. He has had a great ability to network people into other services because of his vast and varied experiences in the helping industry.
“Many people’s lives in the Warragul and surrounding communities are better because of his support and care of them on behalf of The Salvation Army Doorways. Rob’s dedication to this work is a remarkable achievement and we are grateful for all he has done during his time.”
Rob plans to take some time to work out what he does next but he plans to become involved in volunteer work in food relief or associated community service.