In the early 90s, Larry’s life went through a steep transition. Having spent 20 years as a flight engineer in the Australian Air Force, Larry made the decision to move his family from Sydney to Brisbane and commence a career in mental health. He was successful in scoring a role with RFQ as a Support Worker.

“I went from flying with VIPs around the country to cleaning toilets and helping people with mental illness manage various tasks – it was a bit of a culture shock, to say the least.”
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Larry had completed half a psychology degree prior to commencing his role but said nothing could prepare him for life on the ground.

“I still remember my first weekend on-call – I received 30 calls from the residents. It was a definite baptism of fire! I remember thinking in those early days, I’d walk in with my lunch box in the morning and that was the last time I’d know what I was doing until I walked out at the end of the day.”
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Despite the steep learning curve, Larry found immense satisfaction in the work he was doing – a passion he still holds today, 29 years on.

“I was on such a learning curve that I just decided to put my head down and learn as much as I could. I’ve always enjoyed working with people, and there’s something special that happens when you’re kind of down in the weeds with them as they’re being challenged by mental illness.”

Larry has had many profound moments over the years, but one in particular stands out from the early days.

“Talking to one of the young guys, I realised, ‘Hell, he has the same dreams I had when I was leaving school, but he could never realise them because the mental illness cut right across that.’ That’s where I started to get really connected with RFQ’s mission, which is about helping people recover their hopes and dreams.”