Meet Sarah from Ross Home

Meet Sarah Boyd, one of our exceptional staff members at Ross Home. Our support staff play a critical role behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly. Sarah is Ross Home’s laundry supervisor, and makes sure everyone has clean clothes and linen throughout the three Enliven homes in Dunedin and Mosgiel.

What was your background before joining Ross Home?

I’m from Gisborne New Zealand, the oldest of seven children. I come from an abusive background, moving houses and schools all the time which never gave me any time to make friends or gain a basic education. Instead, I learned more about surviving and life skills. I studied my Level 1 and 2 qualifications for aged care when I was 17 years old. I moved to Dunedin in 2010 with a suitcase of belongings to start afresh, and started working at Ross Home when I was 18 as a casual laundry assistant and casual carer for a few years before becoming a permanent laundry assistant. I was later second in charge for four years before becoming the laundry supervisor. This is my thirteenth year at Ross Home. I met my fiancé at Ross Home six years ago while he was delivering goods and we got engaged on Christmas Eve 2021, on our slice of paradise in Warrington.

Can you tell us about your current role?

I took on the role of laundry supervisor in January 2020. About a month later Covid19 happened, which brought with it a whole heap of unforeseen challenges. After that, our laundry team (including myself), had to re-arrange all of the schedules to fit with the everchanging environment which included numerous lockdowns in various departments at any given time. Staff shortages and evolving rosters has meant long stressful days and uncertainty, but after 2 1/2 years of Covid19 we’ve learned a lot and the laundry runs even more efficiently. I’m extremely proud of my team, past and present, for all their sustained hard work and how far we’ve come – it has been a team effort!

What do you enjoy most about your role and working at Ross Home?

I enjoy helping to bring people together so we can move forward as a team. I also appreciate passing on my experience to existing and new staff members to give them a head start. I like coming to work to catch up with everyone throughout Ross Home. I love getting together as a team to organise a surprise potluck lunch for people’s birthdays (but it’s not much of a surprise anymore). My favourite thing is putting up all the Christmas decorations on the 1st of November every year.

What excites you about the future?

Going into this year, I am excited about achieving my supervision modules for the laundry and being able to pass my knowledge down to my second in charge. This will in turn help her get started on her journey to becoming a supervisor. I do enjoy guiding others on to achieving their goals.

We also have two after-schoolers in the laundry with us, and this is their first job. We hope to give these young ones the experience and tools they need to get them started in the workplace. We are working to build their confidence, to gain a solid work ethic, in order to achieve their goals for their future. I’m extremely excited to get married to my soul mate, build our whānau home in Warrington and eventually have a family of our own.

What would you say to others seeking a career in aged care?

There are so many benefits to working in aged care, including getting to know different people and cultures, as well as building connections with residents and their families. We get to work with fantastic people every day! There are multiple opportunities working in this field, to build your education as you go. There are plenty of job vacancies in the industry now, and there is always scope to move up the organisation if you have the right attitude.

If you would like more information about joining the team at PSO please visit our vacancies page.