September 2016 - Colony 47 · September 2016 "I was in a situation where I left home at 14 and Colony 47 helped me to find a place to live. I just want you to know that Colony 47

September 2016

"I was in a situation where I left home at 14 and Colony 47 helped me to find a place to live. I just want you to know that Colony 47 made a difference in my life. Thank you."

COMMUNITY MATTERS

Turnbull Family Funerals jumped in with their hearts and created a winter blanket appeal, calling for blanket donations. Charitably matching blanket for blanket for every one donated, over 200 blankets were received and 200 were matched. Those blankets are already being given to Tasmanians who come to Colony 47 in a time of crisis, looking for accommodation and a pillow to lay their head.

Partnerships are everything and Colony 47 formed a fantastic alliance with Sims for Property of Launceston, generously sponsoring Colony 47 Household Starter Packs containing essential items such as cutlery, crockery, light globes, cleaning products and a blanket to those in need.

Helping to raise funds at the Winter Appeal launch at MONA Gabby Morrison, Graham Flower, Scott Turnbull, Julie Collins,

Chris Carter, Alex Beckitt and David Clements

2016 Winter Appeal

Ruth Groom & Hon Matthew Groom

Turnbull Family Funerals Winter Blanket Appeal

At the Hobart launch of the Winter Appeal - MONA Organ room with

Teangi Brown & Lord Mayor Sue Hickeywith Rob Valentine MLC (in background)

Richard Sims, Therese Taylor former Colony 47 CEO &

Elizabeth Daly - Colony 47

At the Winter Appeal Launch in Launceston. Elizabeth Daly - Colony 47 &

Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Dawn Blazeley

Pianist Kelly Ottawayat the Hobart launch of the Winter Appeal

A big thank you to all our Winter Appeal donors:

MONA, Harvey Norman Business and Education, Pennicott River Cruises, Wrest Point, Tamar Valley Resort, Petty Sessions, Willie Smith’s, Under Down Under, RACT, artist Luke Wagner, Wild Island Tasmania, Skin Care Clinic, Daci & Daci, TSO, K&D, Black Footed Pig, artist Rob Blakers.

This year’s Winter Appeal ‘There’s Nowhere Like Home’ was a huge success raising much needed awareness around issues faced by many Tasmanians in need and promoted the essential work Colony 47 does through its community sector programs.

Each year, over 25,000 Tasmanians are supported and helped through Colony 47 programs. Some important services and essential needs that we provide are financially sourced outside of government through our yearly fundraising campaigns, all of which could not be accomplished without the very generous gifts that our community members and businesses make.

This year’s Winter Appeal was no different with a huge list of donors and some warmly welcomed partnerships with MONA, WINTV, Turnbull Family Funerals in Hobart and Sims for Property in Launceston.

Sims for Property Director, Richard Sims, sees the partnership as an opportunity to give back to the Launceston community. It’s also fantastic that their home buyers can feel part of the partnership and helping those less fortunate. “We’re excited to contribute to Colony 47 clients,” Richard Sims said.

Thank you to all our well-wishers who came along to the May 2016 Winter Appeal launches in Hobart, in the Organ Room at MONA and in Launceston, in our northern office. And thank you to Colony 47 Board members who also generously supported the events.

Sarah Proud, of MONA, said we greatly value our partnership with Colony 47 in our 24 Carrot scheme and, as such, it was a pleasure to host their cocktail party Winter Appeal launch in May this year. We’re thrilled it was such a success and look forward to being part of it again next year.

More than $19,000 was raised throughout the Winter Appeal along with in-kind support donated for the auction worth over $12,000.

Danny Sutton CE Colony 47 and Angelo Fraraccio - owner of

Da Angelos Restaurant Battery Point

From the Chief Executive

A New Chief Executive for Colony 47Danny Sutton comes to Colony 47 after working in the community sector as the Chief Executive of mental health service provider RFT (Richmond Fellowship Tasmania) and the Managing Director of Richmond Fellowship Australia.

Danny has a commitment to person centred practices and was the President of Flourish, the mental health consumer organisation for a number of years. Danny’s previousexperience includes executive roles with the Tasmanian and Australian Governments and also includes commercial roles in the utility and agricultural sectors.

Danny is a graduate of the University of Tasmania and has a Masters of Business Administration from the Mt Eliza Business School. He has also travelled extensively in his professional career including studying in the USA and the establishment of international trading agency arrangements in South America.

I commenced with Colony 47 in mid-July and from the first day I have had a strong sense of the importance of the work that this iconic Tasmanian community organisation is doing for people in need in our communities.

I walked into a shop in Hobart this week and in a casual conversation with the person serving me he asked me what I did. He was a young man who genuinely showed an interest in engaging with me. I told him that I worked at Colony 47. As soon as I mentioned the name his eyes lit up and he said to me without hesitation.

“I was in a situation where I left home at 14 and Colony 47 helped me to find a place to live. I don’t know if people say this to you, but I just want you to know that Colony 47 made a difference in my life. Thank you.”

My wife was with me and was moved that an organisation could have such a profound effect on a person that they would just say thank you to someone in such an open, candid and heartfelt way. It was quite a humbling experience, but seemed to en-capsulate what the work of Colony 47 means to people in the community - it changes lives.

I have found in Colony 47 an amazing culture of commitment, by the Board, Staff and volunteers, to people in need across our community. It is a culture where people matter and people care. I am looking forward to being part of a team that continues to change lives. The rewards really do speak for themselves.

One of Colony 47’s dedicated volunteers is Susan Hesington. Susan began her volunteer work at Colony 47 four years ago as a Christmas lunch volunteer. Susan has retired from primary school teaching and has been living in Australia since 1985, moving here from the United States.

She has travelled and worked extensively over the years including to London and back home to the United States and Asia. However, she maintains that she loves living in Australia.“The people are so friendly and laid back,” she said. Susan loves giving back to her community, she not only volunteers at Colony 47, she also helps The Salvation Army in the shop two days a week, as well as volunteering as a literacy tutor for a Ugandan migrant. “I’ve had a really lovely time living here in Tasmania and like to give back,” she said.

Susan is committed to Colony 47, and she will be helping once again to process Christmas Lunch volunteers’ forms. If you are interested in volunteering please visit:

http://www.colony47.com.au/get-involved/volunteer/ for more information.

Our Volunteers are Gold

Susan Hesignton - Colony 47 volunteer

Danny is a keen bicycle rider and has been fortunate enough to ride some of the epic tour de france stages as well as completing a 600km ride from Seoul to Busan in Korea last year.

Hats for Homelessness Day is a Colony 47 state-wide initiative which enables schools to raise money and awareness for Tasmanians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Gagebrook Primary School was one of the wonderful schools that participated in the fundraising day. Students and teachers were encouraged to wear hats and hair pieces to school for a gold coin donation. The School Student Representative Council SRC members, Jordan Witton, Bianca Bakes and Tayla Radford said it was a good way to help the homeless.

Primary Schools Care

“It makes me feel bad for homeless people, that they don’t have a home; and lucky that I do,”

Jordan Witton a grade five student said.

Gagebrook Teachers and students.Jordan Witton, Jacob Howard - teacher, Bianca Bakes,

Tayla Radford , Kellie Shearing - TA and Lia Jackman - teacher

New Town Primary School also participated in Hats for Homelessness and the Student Representative Council SRC organised a great campaign and raised over $400 for Colony 47 clients. Thank you to all the schools involved this year.

All money raised goes towards supplementing Colony 47 programs which work directly with young people at risk of home-lessness and their families to stay engaged with school, family and their community. Young people need access to supportive services to establish strong foundations so they can build a better future.

Finn, Leif, Amy Ryan and Nina from student representative council at New Town Priimary School

“We went to every class and collected the money. We raised $128 dollars to help,” Tayla Radford a grade 6 student said.

Positively ReconnectingMaintaining a positive, productive and healthy lifestyle is important for all of us. If you are a young woman between the age of 15 – 24 it is even more important as statistically one in six young Australians are currently experiencing an anxiety condition. * Colony 47’s Reconnect Program is a free service for young people aged 12 to 18yrs who are homeless or at risk of being homeless with their families.

The team at Reconnect recognises the struggles that anxiety can cause a young person and how positive connections are fundamental to becoming active, healthy members of our community.

Addressing this issue and working with the Kingsborough Council’s Youth Services program, they ran a self-care workshop through the Independent Living Young Women’s program.

Designed to assist young women to identify the things that make them feel good about themselves, the workshop focused on the young women’s positive health and wellbeing and helped them identify the things that impacted on them negatively.Reconnect Youth and Family Worker, Peter Buckler said art and music provide young people with a therapeutic vehicle for safe, non-verbal expression.

In conjunction with Pulse Youth Health Services, Headspace and the Drug Education Network (DEN) the program runs for eight weeks and includes advice on budgeting, nutrition and cooking, health issues, parenting information, drug and alcohol awareness and how to access support services.

* statistics from Beyond Blue

Four young women in the Independent Living Young Women’s program

photo curtesey of Sarah Wilcox - Kingborough Council

Giving Homage - Homelessness

Bek Stewart residential worker and resident artist

Ella-Grace Isles COMET, Emily Stone COMET, Sarah resident Mara House and Erica Larcombe - Colony 47

Didi Okwechime - Colony 47, Danny Sutton - CE Colony 47 &

Pattie Chugg - Shelter Tas

Kathryn O’Keefe - Common Ground, Anne-Marie Ezzy Activities Organiser - Bunnings & Glen O’Keefe - Colony 47

Anastasia Xepapas student UTAS, Janet Saunders - CEO Hobart Womens Shelter, Sarah resident Mara House, Anne Jarvis - Hobart Womens Shelter

& Anne Taylor - Common Ground

Jacquie Petrusma - Minister for Human Services & Danny Sutton - CE Colony 47

Colony 47 has many great stories of connecting people to place and home. During Homelessness Week, we featured stories of clients supported by Colony 47 programs Housing Connect, Mara House and Eureka Clubhouse.

These individuals each share their unique personal journeys. Whether it was to find temporary shelter, a permanent home or a place to feel valued and appreciated, Colony 47 has enabled better outcomes for them all.

Head to our facebook site to watch and read their stories or follow these links.

Rosalie BrimaSally Jesse

Operated and delivered by Colony 47 for over 15 years, Mara House is the only transitional young women’s shelter in Southern Tasmania.

It provides 24-hour safe interim accommodation for young women aged 13 to 18 years who are experiencing homelessness. Accommodating up to six young women at a time, Mara House supports an average of 50 young women in any given year.

During Homelessness Week 1- 7 August 2016, a mural was launched at Mara House celebrating the positive contribution that Mara House makes to help young women who are experiencing or affected by homelessness get back on their feet. The mural was funded through a Hobart City Council, Creative Hobart grant.

On any one night in Tasmania 1579 people are homeless. The main reasons are mental ill-health, domestic violence,relationship breakdowns, lack of employment and financial pressures.

Having nowhere permanent or secure to live, makes everyday things extremely difficult. Maintaining a job, raising a family or completing education can easily slip away.

In Tasmania more than 600 young Tasmanians under the age of 24 are homeless and almost 200 are aged between 12 and 18. (AIHW statistics)

Rosalie Bester - client of Housing Connect recieving a house starter

packAlice

HIPPY to LearnHome Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) is a national home based parenting and early childhood enrichment program that works with parents and carers of young children to help them be their child’s first teacher.

The program empowers parents and carers with the tools to enable them to deliver positive early learning experiences with their children before they start school.

“If a child can realise success through learning programs before they begin school, then we have already succeeded in setting up positive feelings associated with learning,” Andrea Tall, HIPPY Program Coordinator said.

HIPPY participants Kristy-Lee Curlewis, Kylie Muir, Searna Somers with children Laylah and Coby Somers and Belinda Docking at the

Clarendon Vale Neighbourhood house.

The successful program is worldwide, with Colony 47 delivering HIPPY in Clarendon Vale, Rokeby, Mornington and Warrane.Children are enrolled at age 4 and 5 years and the program provides children with fun, stimulating and varied learning experiences, giving them the opportunity to learn new concepts and consolidate emerging skills.

HIPPY also offers a career pathway for parents who wish to become formal part-time tutors in the program, a fabulous value-add element of this program.

Always Connecting to HeartFollowing her father’s death, Bree’s life became very difficult. She contemplated ending her own life and was hospitalised as a result.

Due to the lack of options, she also spent a number of nights sleeping in a dog kennel, stating that sleeping with the dog was the safest option for her.

Fortunately she came to Housing Connect’s Front Door where a staff member helped her immediate needs with food and shelter.

When Bree returned the next day to get help with housing accommodation she was rested and relaxed after a bath and good night’s sleep. She became very proactive about exploring accommodation options and had a much more positive outlook for her future. She sent this thank you card. (the name of the young woman has been substituted)

If you or someone you care about is struggling with a mental health crisis, you can talk to trained mental health professionals 24/7 via the:beyondblue Support Service on 1300 22 4636; Lifeline 131114 ;Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 orKids Helpline on 1800 551 800.

Colony 47 has a number of programs to support people with mental health issues.

Social Return on Investment - Eureka

A recent project conducted by a University of Tasmania economics and finance student on a Colony 47 program, Eureka Clubhouse, has garnered interesting and positive results for its Social Return on Investment, with a return to the community of more than $4.50 for every dollar spent. Head to our website to watch the video to learn more.

https://www.colony47.com.au/social-return-investment/Niels van der Winkel - Economics and FinanceStudent UTAS

In Launceston, Colony 47 has begun a project called Safer Communities for Women, a family violence project funded by the Federal Department of Social Services.

Coordinated by Colleen Breheney, the project aims to listen to the community talk about what is working well in relation to reducing family violence.

Set in Ravenswood, which like all communities experiences familyviolence, the program will be an important communication and educational tool for families in the area.

A major focus of the program will be to work with Ravenswood Primary school to play a crucial role in breaking the cycle of family violence.

Meandering down the proposed bushtucker trail.

Alycia Green – UTAS student and Colleen Breheney – project coordinator are pictured at an initial planning session with

Zach Taylor Principal of Ravenswood Heights Primary School.

Safer Communities

Colony 47 is happy to announce Meander Valley Council’s approval for the Bush Tucker Trail on the Northern bank of the Meander River in Deloraine. Working with the Meander Valley Council and Meander Aboriginal Community the Bush Tucker Trail will showcase the rich history of Aboriginal culture along the northern bank of the Meander River in Deloraine. Set in one of Tasmania’s most beautiful areas, the trail project will have six dedicated sites of native plantings which will include Aboriginal ‘Bush Tucker’.

Council gives Go Ahead

Aunty Dawn Blazeley, local Aboriginal Elder and Greg Murray, Colony 47 Pathway Planner Worker, will be inspiring local school children to create designs of Aboriginal motifs for pavers handmade by local artist, Keith Lane.

Artist, John Parish and participants are gearing up to create eight native animal sculptures for the trail. A metal fire-pit for the Yarning Circle is also under construction by local artist Matthew ‘Moby’ Dick, with a cover motif to be designed by Aunty Dawn Blazeley.

The inclement weather affecting Meander Valley has meant delays for the start of on-site works for the trail. A contractor has been engaged, volunteers are on board and plants ordered from Habitat Nursery.

We are thrilled to acknowledge and thank our sponsors Meander Valley Council, NRM North, Deloraine and Districts Community Grants/ Bendigo Bank of Deloraine and Deloraine Rotary.

WANT TO BE INVOLVED? HOW CAN YOU ASSIST? Help to meet a shortfall in funding by investing in a native animal sculpture with a donation of between $50 and $2,500. A further $7,500 is needed to complete the series of 8 smaller than life size bronze sculptures. Register as a helper for mulching and preparing the 6 small plant beds – a one-off activity. Join the ongoing maintenance team trained by BTT Horticulturalist Rosie Harris – a monthly weed and water of the plants.Walk the trail every day and enjoy the Bush Tucker plants and celebrate this positive and joyful Tasmanian Aboriginal contribution to the riverside. PLEASE NOTE: DONATIONS OVER $2.00 ARE TAX DECUCTIBLE

Please contact: Colony 47 Community Pathways Planner Martin Hay on 0447 800 625.

The program will anaylse data and information collected through discussions which will feed into identifying and developing of practical and sustainable mini projects which will help build stronger, safer communities. Participants will be invited to train as “champions” for the task of leading or assisting in implementing these mini projects.

Danny Sutton - CE Colony 47 & Jill from the Howrah knit-

ters group who donated over a 100 beanies to winter warm-er packs for Colony 47 clients

Benefits from Bunnings - Mara HouseColony 47 residents living at Mara House are greatly appreciative of the big-hearted contributions and donations made by Bunnings to Mara House this year.

Bunnings has been a stand out supporter of Mara House. Donating a pizza oven and BBQ earlier in the year. They came to spruce up the front yard and improve the privacy with some hedge plants.

All the young women have enjoyed cooking pizzas together and appreciate the fact that they are valued members of the community by a Tasmanian business.

Dedicated volunteer of Colony 47, Caroline Cochrane’s realised her dream and launched her own book in July - A Changed and Uplifted Life – which is the story of her journey through life, her love of singing with the Choir of High Hopes and volunteering in Tasmania.

“Colony 47 made me feel like part of the team helping people experiencing homelessness and I hope I can help them also,” Caroline said.

Caroline’s Book Launch

n’Didi Okwechime- Colony 47, Erica Larcombe - Colony 47, Deb Burnett - Bunnings, Heidi-Marie Lyte - Colony47

& Ann-Marie Ezzy - Bunnings.

In June a significant donation of $6000 was received from Rotary for Colony 47’s Get on the Road project.

Five clubs, Salamanca, North Hobart, Sullivans Cove, Moonah and City Central donation will cover the cost of obtaining licenses and conducting the driving assessments for 10 disadvantaged young people.

One of the main barriers to youth employment and overcoming disadvantage in a young person’s life is the ability to access transport.

Rotary - Driving Donations

Rotary Members Warwick Pease, Peter Gibson, Anne Palmer & Ainstie Wagner with former Colony 47 CEO Threse Taylor (centre)

The Unicorn Opportunity shop in Lindisfarne is a great benefactor to Colony 47 and has been for many years.

Colony 47 would like to thank the wonderful staff and especially Noeline for their generosity in recently giving $1000 to assist Colony 47 clients in financial literacy.

Unicorn Opportunity Shop Gives

Noeline Heaven (left) and some of the wonderful staff at the Unicorn Opportunity Shop in Lindisfarne

A big thank you to Josh Willie - Labor member for Elwick in the Tasmanian Legislative Council, for his donation to the Colony 47 Winter Appeal.

Caroline Cochrane at her book launch

Caroline has named Choir of High Hopes, Colony 47 and Australian Tinnitus Association as the three financial beneficiaries of

the book. Buy online at https://www.colony47.com.au/shop/

Josh Willie MLC and Di Carter - Colony 47