TOM HAYES
By TOM HAYES
MORWELL Neighbourhood House was recently visited by Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester, seeing first-hand what great community work they are doing. Funded by DHS and a committee of management, Morwell Neighbourhood House has a combination of avenues that support the House. “It’s a combination of sponsorships, partnerships and donations,” Morwell Neighbourhood House manager and Latrobe City Councillor Tracie Lund said. “We’re also a registered charity, so we do some other work … our financial running is a combination of other things.” Alongside Morwell for Morwell Martin Cameron and Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath, Mr Chester learnt about all the programs designed to help community members in need. “The work of Tracie and her team at Morwell Neighbourhood House is creating a real difference to local families who are facing challenges with the increasing cost of living,” Mr Chester said. “One particular program they offer to residents is the opportunity to borrow a lawn mower, to help with property maintenance and has been very popular with community members. “These programs ensure members of our community are receiving support and have the opportunity to maintain their properties and provide food to their families and more. “Well done to the team for working with the community to deliver practical solutions to local problems.” Morwell Neighbourhood House manager Tracie Lund was proud of the recognition from Mr Chester. “It’s always really inspiring for us when our community and elected leaders value our work, understand our work and promote our work” Ms Lund said. “It was an opportunity for us to showcase the community development work that we do and also explore with him about the social and economic impact of the work that is very much grassroots.” Morwell Neighbourhood House provides a number of services to help with independence of disadvantaged people, including educational support, skills learning, training and volunteering opportunities and support programs. “We have our food bank, shower and power – so you can shower here, get a hot meal, we have a lawnmower bank … we have a repair café and free store, a peoples kitchen program,” Ms Lund said. “We have a kinder cup café, we have a social enterprise café that supports the work of the Neighbourhood House, we also work to support people that might have barriers to employment to come in and work with us in the café to build skill and knowledge and some employment skills.” The services at Morwell Neighbourhood House are well-intended and have great benefits to the community that stops by. Services named above help with overall social skills, employment skills and gives people a safe place to be no matter the occasion. Morwell Neighbourhood House caters for everyone and anyone, opening its doors to anyone in need of help. “The Neighbourhood House is open to anybody and everybody, and we are an inclusive organisation, we welcome diversity,” Ms Lund said. “Our food bank in a 10-week period can see over 500, 600 people through the door. “When we look at those numbers, the numbers are well over 1500, sometimes up to 2000 … someone might be coming in to shop for a family of five.” Neighbourhood Houses have experienced a popular rise around the region, helping different communities within towns around the region. “There’s over 400 (Neighbourhood Houses) across Victoria, just about in most local government areas, you will see at least one Neighbourhood House,” Ms Lund said. “Neighbourhood Houses are a safe place in the community, they do direct responses to community issues, local solutions to local issues. “They are community development models, opposed to a welfare model, which means they work collaboratively with their community to come up with a solutions together. “You will find that every Neighbourhood House is different, they run different programs, as they’re relevant to their local community. You’ll never walk into one Neighbourhood House and say ‘I’ve seen one Neighbourhood House, I’ve seen them all’, because they are all diverse.” Starting on May 8 until May 14, it is National Neighbourhood House week – an annual celebration recognising the contribution that over 1000 Neighbourhood Houses make across Australia. The theme for this year is ‘Locals connecting Locals’, and the Morwell Neighbourhood House will be running events throughout the week, in celebration of the week.
