“I love helping families. Even a small change can help make life better for everyone. I help them understand how violence or witnessing violence done to others affects them,” said Barnardos’ Levin social worker Amy Fraser.
Personal circumstances were the driving force behind a radical change of career and study for Kāpiti social worker Amy Fraser, who has been with Barnardos Levin for the past four years working with families and children dealing with violence.
“Wonderful help from a hospital social worker at the time an unexpected pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth, made me rethink my direction in life,” she said. She was almost at the end of her Bachelor of Commerce but switched to a social work degree as a result of her contact with the social worker.
“I realised then that life is about making the world better, not about making lots of money,” she said. That change was not an easy one, initially.
Most of her family and friends were supportive of her surprise change though. After graduation she picked Barnardos because she was familiar with the organisation, having been a recipient of one of its services as a child.
