ED MESSAGE

Chairpersons Message

ELEANOR SCOTT

Centacare FNQ has, as have most other organisations' in the region, been significantly impacted by the COVID pandemic. While the impact has been felt throughout the organisation and impacted all the services we provide, perhaps no service has been impacted as much as our humanitarian settlement program.

As international flights have all but stopped, the numbers of refugees and migrants coming to settle in our region to start a new life has almost stopped as well.

This has severely impacted our staff and the services they so ably provide to our refugee and migrant clients. However, the team at Centacare has managed to turn this serious issue into a positive with an renewed focus on assisting our existing refugee and migrant community members with training and upskilling for employment. The focus on assisting our clients to develop the skills to find employment has been well received with many of our clients now in full time employment with appropriate skills and perhaps more importantly, the confidence to enter into the workforce in their new environment.

It is a testament to our staff that they have been able to see a bigger picture and turn what could have been as very difficult time for staff and our clients into positive outcomes. Our clients, employers and the broader community are and will continue to reap the rewards of that innovative approach in finding the best solutions for our clients in such difficult times.