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Evolution Exhibition

Melbourne Citymission's Frontyard Youth Services have great pleasure in inviting you to the exhibition of the Evolution program – art created by young people who are homeless or are at risk and disengaged from education, training and employment.

For over 30 years, Melbourne Citymission’s Palliative Care has been supporting people with terminal illness in their own homes. We provide round-the-clock specialist health care and practical support to people with terminal conditions — aimed at enhancing their quality of life. Our support also extends to family members and carers of terminally ill people.

In support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), NDIS Make it Real Rallies are being planned in capital cities around Australia on Monday 30 April.
In Melbourne, the event will be held at Federation Square on Monday 30 April from 12 noon.

Over a thousand people gathered in Federation Square on Monday 30 April as part of a nation-wide rally to show their support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and to put pressure on state and federal government representatives to Make It Real.

A strong contingent of Melbourne Citymission staff attended the rally to show their support, and the support of our organisation for the scheme.

Melbourne Citymission’s Family Reconciliation Mediation Program (FRMP) is hosting its annual conference for professionals working within the homelessness sector across Victoria, to combine their very best people, ideas and expertise to combat youth homelessness.

Governor-General visits Melbourne Citymission

15 May 2012

Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce devoted Mothers’ Day afternoon to Melbourne’s young homeless, with a visit to Melbourne Citymission’s Precinct.

Julia Gillard visited Melbourne Citymission’s city office in support of equal pay within the community service sector. Julia joined members of the Australian Services Union (ASU) for morning tea and is pictured to the left with our CEO, Rev Ric Holland.

Eltham Retirement Village residents were welcomed home last Saturday, following the Christmas Day floods which devastated the units they lived in.

The event was held at the Metzner Hall in Eltham, where residents, their families, emergency services teams, Melbourne Citymission staff and members of the community celebrated the return of the residents.

Melbourne Citymission assists women to find meaningful employment pre and post release from prison which enables them to gain financial independence, positive community participation and increased confidence and self-esteem.

The Precinct in North Fitzroy is celebrating following the news of $90,096 in additional funding.

The Hon Wendy Lovell MLC, Minister for Housing and Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, made the announcement last week to an audience of Melbourne Citymission staff and representatives from across the sector.

A big day of fun and excitement was in store for 29 children from the T.I.M.E. Out Sibling Program recently.

The children aged between 8 and 18 years, all with brothers or sisters with a disability, travelled to Lysterfield Park for raft building, canoeing, team games, orienteering and cooking activities.

Civic Awards on Australia Day

High Tea with the Mayor seems like a fine way to spend Australia Day, but that wasn’t all for former Melbourne Citymission Women About client Shaun Hawksworth, who was also presented with a 2012 Maribyrnong City Council Civic Award. This award recognises individuals who donate their time to help others and support the growth of the local community.

Participants of the Diversion Diversityprogram had an afternoon of football Skills and Drills with the Melbourne Hearts Football Club recently.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, with just a hint of a cool breeze: the perfect conditions for a game of soccer down on Braybrook Football oval. The guys practiced passing and goal-kicking techniques, and their numbers grew as other Diversion Diversity participants saw the fun to be had.

It was an action-packed day, filled with excitement and adrenaline, as participants from the Diversion Diversity program in Braybrook headed to Torquay for a lesson in surfing. Torquay is famous for its surf beaches and was an ideal location to bring our participants for a day of outdoor fun.

Eltham Retirement Village - Update for Residents - Tuesday 27 December 2011

The flood has entered all ground floor units in Rundle House, the Rundle House laundries, the resident’s Cottage and the adjacent laundry (No. 7) of Shepherd House. All of these areas have been significantly damaged by the water and mud that has washed through. Fortunately, no one was injured and every resident whose unit was affected by the flood was able to be relocated to alternate accommodation that night. Ongoing accommodation is arranged on a day by day basis as circumstances change.

For the second Christmas running, Melbourne Citymission partnered with the ABC to collect gifts for families in need across Melbourne and Victoria.

The appeal was a great success, with over 16,000 gifts donated.

Melbourne Citymission has a vision to educate every young person who is disadvantaged in the heart of Melbourne.

In order to move towards this vision, Melbourne Citymission is creating the ‘Melbourne Academy’ which will deliver educational programs to some of Melbourne’s most disengaged students.

Melbourne Citymission has teamed up with CASA House (the Centre Against Sexual Assault) and the YWCA in an exciting project working with young people to create music with messages against violence towards women.

A CD entitled '16 Songs for 16 Days' will launch at Federation Square on Friday 9th December at 2pm.

The CD launch is part of ‘16 Days of Activism’ – an international campaign calling for an end to violence against women, which runs for 16 days from 25th November to 10th December 2011.

A young shining light of generosity and thoughtfulness has shone on Melbourne Citymission, in the shape of Chelsea, an inspiring eleven-year-old from Cowwarr, Victoria.

After watching Melbourne Citymission’s short film One Day, Chelsea decided that instead of asking Santa for Christmas presents, she would donate money to Melbourne Citymission instead.

Eltham Retirement Village - Update for Residents - Friday 30 December 2011

The flood on Christmas night resulted in all ground floor units in Rundle House being damaged beyond repair. Unfortunately residents will not be able to return to these units but have already been provided with alternate units throughout the Village. Some people will move to Shepherd House, some to upstairs Rundle House first floor units (near to the lift) and one person to Herring House. We will publish a list of where people have moved to in the near future.

International Day of People with a Disability (IDPWD) is celebrated worldwide each year on 3 December. he day recognises the achievements and contributions of people with a disability.

The Melbourne Design Market is Melbourne’s original design market, making Melbourne Citymission, Melbourne’s oldest charity, the perfect choice when the market organisers decided to partner with a Melbourne-based charity earlier this year.

The Federal Government has announced that it will make a joint submission with the Australian Services Union (ASU) to Fair Work Australia (FWA) in the ongoing pay equity case for community sector workers.

The joint submission will propose a new pay structure, along the lines of that implemented in Queensland in 2009.

Melbourne Citymission and the Broadmeadows Residents Action Team (BRAT) recently welcomed the official launch of improvements to the Olsen Place shopping area.

The improvements made by Hume Council included new seating, lights, shade sails and public art.

Melbourne Citymission’s Compass Clubhouse for people with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is an Australian first and its co-ordinator, Sally Green, recently took a trip to the States to find out how other Clubhouses with the same vision operate.

America is comparatively advanced in its support for people with an ABI and over the last couple of years since the Compass Clubhouse first opened, Sally has kept up-to-date with best-practice through a bi-monthly teleconference with international Clubhouses.

Kitchen Cultures, an innovative Melbourne Citymission program, has been relaunched and is cooking up a recipe for harmony.

Funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the program aims to reduce racism and discrimination in the inner-west, by bringing together young people from diverse backgrounds around the theme of world food and creative arts.

For the last 157 years, every second of every day, Melbourne Citymission has been there for people facing disadvantage.

Last week we celebrated the difference we’ve made in so many people’s lives over the past year at our 157th Annual General Meeting. The event took place at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), right in the heart of Melbourne.

Melbourne Citymission has relaunched one of its youth crisis accommodation refuges, the Western Region Accommodation Program (WRAP), after extensive renovations and upgrades.

WRAP now has a new lounge area, new storage room, larger office area, all new kitchenettes in the residents’ rooms and new carpet.

Introducing Robin Good… the new digital version of our favourite charitable hero, Robin Hood, but without the stealing part!

Robin Good has just launched a website www.robingood.com.au that allows you to save money, whilst giving to charity.

At a recent launch of a new Palliative Care Policy, a special lady named Di Cerini shared her very moving story about her and her late husband's personal experiences of Melbourne Citymission’s Palliative Care.

Robyn Clark Award

Congratulations to Melbourne Citymission staff member Maureen Smythe who has been presented with a Robyn Clark Award from the Department of Human Services.

Maureen is the co-ordinator of our Community Integration and Accommodation Options program – ‘CIAO’ – a supported accommodation program for young people aged between 15 and 18 years, who are on a statutory order and in transition out of home-care services.

We rely on the generosity of people just like you. Every gift counts - whether it’s through donations or taking part in our events. But it’s a little known fact that much of our most vital income actually comes from people including gifts in wills.

That’s why we are taking an active part in Include a Charity Week from 12th–18th September, helping to raise awareness of the importance of gifts included in wills.

Brain Injury Awareness Week took place from August 15-21 and was devoted to people with a brain injury in the criminal justice system.

Our very own Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) unit from the Children's and Disability Services Division organised and hosted their annual event for clients and their carers as part of Brain Injury Awareness Week. 101 clients, carers, ABI unit & Melbourne Citymission staff attended the event which proved to be a great success.

Recently participants from The Western Young People’s Independent Network (WYPIN) enjoyed a trip to Lake Mountain for a fun-filled adventure day in the snow.

WYPIN, auspiced by Melbourne Citymission, works with young people of refugee and migrant backgrounds who are between 12 and 25 years old. WYPIN was set up to challenge racism and social issues in the community and is a service for people connected to the Western Suburb of Melbourne.

Precarious housing and health inequalities: what are the links?

Melbourne Citymission recently partnered in and launched research regarding health outcomes and precarious housing. The study was conducted by multiple research partners at Hanover Welfare Services, the University of Melbourne, University of Adelaide and Melbourne Citymission, each of whom made a significant contribution to the development, thinking, analysis and report writing. The research shows a clear link between inadequate and unstable housing and poor health.

In support of National Homeless Persons’ Week, Melbourne Citymission in association with Victoria University recently launched ground breaking research which will help tackle and prevent youth homelessness.

‘Achieving (Extra) Ordinary Aspirations’ was officially launched by Wendy Lovell, Minister for Housing & Minister for Early Childhood & Development which explores the role that Melbourne Citymission’s Step Ahead program has played in the lives of young people affected by homelessness.

In support of Every Australian Counts, the campaign for the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Melbourne Citymission held their very own DisabiliTEA at their King Street office on Tuesday 02 August. The tea was in participation of over 900 DisabiliTEA events that took place on 02 August nationwide, co-ordinated by The National Disability and Carer Alliance; the biggest action so far in the largest disabilities campaign ever conducted in Australia.

Melbourne Citymission’s Youth Enterprise Hub (YEH) in Braybrook welcomed one of the world’s top ranked middleweights Sam Soliman to a recent ‘Choices’ workshop.

Nearly 40 young men, mostly from the Horn of Africa, gathered at YEH to take part in this workshop, which was facilitated by Sam and his entourage.

Tanya’s beaming smile and bright eyes tell a story of strength and determination. She has triumphed over some major life challenges to not only be a bubbly, vibrant and positive person, but to also become a budding professional children’s writer.

You never know what’s round the corner in life and the last thing Tanya expected at age twenty was an aneurysm, massive stroke and consequential bleeding in her brain — all occurring within three months of each other.

Melbourne Citymission is proud to announce that it is committed to a major redevelopment of its Eltham Retirement Centre site.

We have now decided to embark on the largest capital development in our history; a multipurpose redevelopment of the Eltham site to provide for the increasing number of older people within the Nillumbik Shire who require suitable accommodation and residential care services.

Congratulations to Sally Green the Co-ordinator of Melbourne Citymission’s Compass Clubhouse on attaining the Individual Victorian Disability Sector Award 2011.

The Compass Clubhouse is a community-based house that welcomes people with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). This Award recognises all of Sally’s hard work in the development of the Clubhouse; Sally has been pivotal in establishing the Clubhouse model for people in the Melbourne community and for her commitment to the principles of social justice.

Melbourne Citymission

Melbourne Citymission works with people experiencing disadvantage across Melbourne and Victoria. Every week we help thousands of people build a clear pathway away from economic exclusion and social isolation.

Our services support:

people to find a pathway out of homelessness
people with a disability to get the resources and support they need to live the life they want
people to break the cycle of poverty and abuse
people to find jobs, or enter into education and training.

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