Jeff Huddlestone
Working to help country people for most of her life, an interesting journey led Sandi Elliot to creating In Home Hospice Care Mount Gambier.
Born and educated in Port Lincoln, she moved to Adelaide and married when she was 19.
With four children under five, she and her first husband moved to Mount Gambier/ Berrin in 1988, where he managed a bank.
As promotion beckoned for him in Adelaide, it was time to make choices.
“I’m very much a country girl,” she said.
“I was more for the country and home and he chose the city and career, but he is still involved in our lives.”
She later met and married Wayne Elliott from Port MacDonnell and they had a son.
Ms Elliott worked in the local education, health and dairy sectors.
“It was always how can I help the regions,” she said.
“It’s the country and country people work together.”
Later Ms Elliot became the, now dissolved, Mount Gambier Private Hospital chief executive officer where she helped establish In Home Hospice Care Mount Gambier.
The charity was established in 2020, serving its first client in 2021.
It has grown massively since then and has now provided the free service for 43 families.
In Home Hospice Care Mount Gambier has more than 40 volunteers, 27 are support carers while others perform duties like administration and fundraising.
Carers provide companionship, and help with non-medical activities, like shopping, reading to clients, going for drives or completing bucket list tasks.
“We’re there to comfort people as they journey through the end stage of life, making them comfortable and keeping them involved in the community for as long as possible,” Ms Elliott said.
Clients and carers are carefully matched and all volunteers are helped to obtain necessary government clearances.
The thing the mother of five and grandmother of 10 likes best about running In Home Hospice Care Mount Gambier is the opportunity to help the community.
“It’s just a good thing to do,” she said.
“It’s the best job ever, making clients’ lives better, happier and easier, that makes the difference.”
Eventually Ms Elliott would like to see a stand alone hospice in Mount Gambier/ Berrin
Outside of work, Ms Elliot has been heavily involved in playing and coaching a wide range of sports, including bowling where she enjoys the social aspect of the game.
