She’s lived in her Echuca home for the past 30 years and has adorned the house with the fruits of her creativity.
There’s a handmade doona cover, patchwork art graces the walls — she’s even learning how to crochet and is busy making a little rug.
Helen has also turned the carport into a fernery, and beautiful standard roses frame the driveway.
“I love my home,” the 81-year-old said.
‘’It’s where I want to spend the rest of my life.”
Helen’s garden, which backs onto the railway line, is also a poignant reminder of earlier challenges in a life she describes as “hard”.
She grew up in a tent alongside a railway line in NSW while her parents struggled to find somewhere to live.
But while life was tough, Helen was tougher.
“There’s no point sitting around and waiting for things to change on their own,” she said.
“I’ve always believed in rolling up my sleeves and getting things done.”
Helen moved with her mum to Victoria and was only 14 when she started work at the telephone exchange.
She met her husband in Bendigo and five children later, they moved from Melbourne to Echuca.
Over the years, Helen’s can-do approach has never wavered.
She found herself being a single mum to her children and later widowed when her second husband passed away.
Through it all she worked — in the catering business, with adults with disabilities, as a house cleaner, running a cafe and in a shop selling sewing machines and overlockers.
Helen’s family is her pride and joy.
“My children are scattered across Australia, but they all have great careers and have done so well for themselves,” she said.
Following the habit of a lifetime, Helen still sews many of her own garments, as well as making bits and pieces for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“Because I’m living with Parkinson’s disease, I can’t sew by hand any more, but I can still use the sewing machine very well,” she said.
Helen is delighted to be able to live independently at home thanks to a government-funded home care package through Uniting AgeWell.
She has help around the home and garden, and receives podiatry and other services.
She has used her home care package to buy a walker, an adjustable bed and a personal alarm.
Helen often whips up a cake and heads off on her mobility scooter to the Uniting AgeWell office in Annesley St, Echuca, for a cuppa and a chat.
“It’s my way of showing how grateful I am for all that they do for me,’’ she said.
‘’I know that I only have to ask for help, and they’ll be there. It’s a great comfort to me, you know.’’
To find out more about how Uniting AgeWell can assist older people live their best lives at home, call 1300 914 074 or visit unitingagewell.org/our-services/home-care
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