By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
FORCED to pick up the pieces after a cruel break-in recently, Moe-based charity Life Skills Victoria is attempting to soldier on any way they can in an effort to continue to serve people.
Staff at the NDIS-funded organisation had their world turned upside down when arriving to work last month, only to discover that burglars had gained access to the High Street building, ransacking the place and stealing many essential items.
The result? More than $20,000 worth of equipment, including laptops, food, and money for programs displaced, leaving the small charity clinging to whatever they have left, and leaving those concerned with much stress and disheartenment.
Staff personal items were also allegedly stolen.
One staff member arrived to find papers and other items scattered throughout the hallways and into the offices, making feel them quite uneasy.
Life Skills Victoria Chief Executive, Kyle Prasser told the Express that while the building itself didn’t suffer a lot of damage, the result of the robbery has left them severely out of pocket.
“It was pretty well turned over. They’d stolen quite a bit of our technology … honestly, we’d only just renewed our laptop fleet, so we had about eight of our new laptops disappear, including ones that we use for our clients to run programs,” he said.
Mr Prasser added that considering they are meant to be the support beam for people, now that they are the ones seeking community assistance, it makes it difficult to remain focused on what’s ahead, but are doing so the best they can.
“The effect of it, we’re feeling it reverberate a little bit,” he said.
“It’s nice to say we all just move on and replace computers and technology, excreta, but it’s not going to work like that.
“As an NDIS-funded organisation predominately, but we also run an RTO (Registered Training Organisation) that’s funded by the state government, we don’t have a lot of money to go around at all. Anything is incredibly valuable to us.”
Insurance hasn’t been able to cover the total financial loss, so Life Skills Victoria has put the word out to the community and are accepting any support, whether volunteer-wise or via donation.
Stolen laptops were used for literacy and numeracy groups, and were also required for an upcoming digital literacy program which had already secured grant funding.
“We were really looking forward to building some programs around digital literacy for our clients, and quite a few of the devices that were stolen mean that program is now going to be significantly delayed,” Mr Prasser said.
“We wanted to build the skills that everyone is building, things around utilising AI to navigate the world for people with disabilities. So, that’s been put on hold for the time being until we can replace those resources.”
The organisation was also looking forward to another initiative commencing, with the opening of a social enterprise café located at Morwell’s Latrobe Regional Gallery. That understandably has been forced to the side in the meantime.
Since the burglary, staff have been given the option to work from home, keeping in touch with participants using their own devices.
That has left the workplace a relatively quiet and sombre sight, however, programs are still being run next door at the High Street Community Hub, giving Life Skills Victoria participants something to look towards.
A student coffee hub remains open to the public, and an active theatre group for participants is another opportunity continuing to forge ahead.
Life Skills Victoria has existed in different forms, all at the same location, for four decades, and will continue to be there for those who need – however, they need some support themselves.
You can make a donation to help recover and restart programs sooner at: www.lifeskillsvic.com.au/donate
The investigation into the burglary remains ongoing, with no arrests made at the time of writing.
Anyone with information or dashcam/CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at: www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
