How HPHH helped Libby achieve her goal of volunteering

Libby is one of our OG participants at Happy Paws Happy Hearts in Wacol, having attended our sessions for over 5 years. Libby lives on a farm with lots of animals and has a greeting card business, Little Farmer Designs.  

Working her way through our programs, she enrolled in our employment pathway program, Explore in early 2021 to gain skills and confidence around running her business. Since graduating from this program, she has continued participating in our Train program and working towards her goal of volunteering independently with the RSPCA. 

Her favourite animals are horses, having 3 horses on her farm. She has worked with several horses at HPHH, even showing some participants how to safely rug a horse. In addition, she loves working with the cats in sessions. 

Over the past 5 years at HPHH, Libby says she has changed a lot. She has come out of her shell and become more comfortable and confident in her group sessions, even creating a strong friendship outside the classroom with another participant, Keelee. 

“I felt my confidence [increased]. Explore helped me increase my confidence with my card business,” Libby says. 

“I love being around animals, it makes me feel calm.” 

 She loves socialising and seeing animals. She has learnt to handle a variety of animals, including snakes and other reptiles – she's so brave! 

Libby is super excited to have achieved her goal of volunteering at the RSPCA Wacol. She’ll be working with the cats, which wouldn’t have been possible without the skills and knowledge she gained at Happy Paws Happy Hearts. 

“Thank you for helping me achieve my goal and build my confidence,” Libby said to Program Trainer, Leigh Alley-Dunne. 

We are so proud of everything Libby has achieved in her time at HPHH. From participating in our Explore explainer video to our HPHH cohort photoshoot recently, we are so grateful to have spent the past 5 years on her journey and know she will do great things. We will miss her bright face at HPHH, but know she’s just next door at RSPCA Wacol, so we’ll hopefully still see her around!