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Not too long ago, Anna Parkanyi, Hope General Manager Goldfields South, celebrated her one-year anniversary working in Esperance.
It’s a community she is familiar with, and very fond of, and she wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world.
“I previously spent nearly 20 years in Esperance, so it was nice to come back. I love being back here. It is like being back at home, it was certainly my kids home,” she says.
“Esperance’s strength is that all the different service providers work together, in collaboration. We work closely to deliver services and on the big celebration days, like NAIDOC Week.”
A full schedule
Anna started working with as Team Leader of the Esperance office, until her promotion to General Manager.
She now oversees the Goldfields Community Alcohol and Drugs Service, the Integrated Team Care program and headspace Esperance, which is transitioning from a satellite site to a full headspace.
“It keeps me busy. You think your day is going to be set, and then anything can happen,” she says.
Anna’s background is primarily in counselling – she has more than 15 years’ experience working in the Esperance and Kalgoorlie regions in the areas of individual counselling, family therapy, family domestic violence, and family dispute resolution, children’s counselling and drug and alcohol.
“Counselling is about helping people to recognise their strengths and what they have available to them, empowering them to look at their options and to take control of who they are and where they want to be. They do all the work; we just help support them to be where they want to be,” Anna Parkanyi says.
Building her team
While ensuring Hope clients have all the support they need, Anna is also dedicated to ensuring her team have every opportunity to build on their strengths and feel fulfilled in their chosen careers.
“I enjoy providing the services to the community, but I also love also providing opportunities to my team to grow in their roles, to really flourish and build confidence,” she says.
“I really try to build a positive staff culture and making Hope Esperance a nice place to work.”
HOPE Esperance provides programs, services and interventions to support individuals, families and communities to address issues around alcohol and other drug use and mental health.
