“I enjoy what I do, being amongst people.”
Thirty years ago, Suncare looked very different to what it does today. Before services expanded and new locations opened, Suncare offered Meals on Wheels and respite care in Maroochydore.
Fast forward those three decades and Suncare’s growth has been exponential. For most, photographs and written records are relied upon to gain an insight into how Suncare looked back then – but not for Suncare employee Karen Lowe.
Clocking in for her first shift on September 12, 1994, at what was known as the Maroochydore Community Hall, Karen has witnessed first-hand the change the past 30 years have brought.
But there is one thing that has not changed for Karen. “It can be hard to be happy in a job sometimes. I have been happy in other jobs, but not as happy as I have been with Suncare,” Karen said. “I enjoy all of it. I get into my routine of what I have to do, and it does not seem like a job.”
Working as a cleaner at Suncare’s Maroochydore Community Centre for her entire tenure, Karen has become a valuable team member.
“I used to be neighbours with the lady who worked as a cleaner at the centre. She finished up and asked if I was looking,” she said. “Ever since then it has been five days a week for me.”
Karen is still as meticulous as ever in her duties, even if the area she attends to has continued to grow. “The biggest change I have seen is that there has been a lot of renovations in this building,” she said. “When I first started it was a very small kitchen, and it was not actually called Suncare. It was Central Sunshine Coast Committee of the Ageing.”
Enjoying the camaraderie, volunteer and client Christmas parties as well as a surprise appearance from her manager Ann on a Harley Davidson one morning, Karen said it has all come down to the people.
“A lot of people have come and gone while I have been here,” she said. “That has made it interesting, and I love seeing and talking to different people every day.
With an impressive thirty years already to her name, Karen has no plans to hang up the gloves and hair net anytime soon.
