NEWS DESK
Citizens of the Year take a bow Liz Bell liz@baysidenews.com.au Frankston’s outstanding citizens were honoured for their commitment to others and dedication to volunteering during an Australia Day ceremony at Frankston Arts Centre. Frankston Council’s 2017 Citizen of the Year award went to husband and wife team, Reverend Angel and Pastor Ulli Roldan, who started and still runs the Life-Gate Ministry, which provides support, practical life-skills training and counselling to people in crisis. Rev Roldan said he had been working with Frankston’s most needy people for about 25 years and was surprised “but pleased” to be recognised by council. The couple moved to Frankston from Germany in 1983, and almost immediately recognised a need for support in sections of the community. Originally working as a banker in the city, Rev Roldan became involved in the ministry and founded Life-Gate in 1992 in an effort to reach those in need and “get out into the community”. “We felt that the best way to help was not to wait and expect people in need to come to ask for help, but to get out there on the streets and offer our help,” he said. For 13 years the couple managed a rehabilitation facility and led a team of volunteers to provide care and support to inmates at Victorian prisons, during which he saw first-hand the strong link between drugs and crime.
Tireless supporters: Pastor Ulli Roldan, left, and Reverend Angel Roldan, with Louise Holtzinger and Roy Giesemann, are dedicated to Frankston. Picture: Gary Sissons
He said drug addiction was a constant player in many of Frankston’s social problems, with 90 percent of drug users not willing to seek help. “In our experience, only five to ten per cent of people with drug problems will actually ask for help, the rest won’t so you have to try to get to them. “We get out in the streets and we meet so many young people with problems; many of them have addiction issues but others who have left domestic violence and other awful family situations,” he said. Rev Roldan said Life-Gate’s missions is to equip and empower individuals and families to overcome crises such as drug and alcohol ad-
dictions and other “life-controlling” problems, and ultimately reach their full potential in life. The organisation provides life skills training and other education and counselling services and has been running a successful program called ‘The Colour of Hope’ at McClelland College to re-engage students with schooling through art. He said the program was proving its worth, with many of the program participants who had previously refused to attend school, now back in the education system. A little uncomfortable with the Citizen of the Year award, Rev Roldan said he and his wife did not do any of their work for recognition, but were
pleased to be noticed. “So thank you for the award, we are blessed,” he said. Other awards on the day went to Roy Giesemann, 86, Senior Citizen of the Year, who Cr Curial said was recognised for being a “positive, active and engaging advocate” for Frankston. The long-term Frankston resident is well known for his promotion of Frankston as a caller to radio stations and letter writer to the media. His past and present memberships include Yamala Park Tennis Club, Long Island Golf Club, PARC, and the Church Choir, and he has been a volunteer at the Frankston Visitor Information Centre for ten years, as well as an organiser of tours at the South East Water building. Young Citizen of the Year, Louise Holtzinger, has been an active member of the Frankston Youth Council for about five years, whilst also overcoming various challenges in her personal and family environment. She is a spokesperson for her fellow youth councillors and has delivered speeches about her personal journey and achievements at various youth and community events and activities. She has also been a major contributor to the “Think Big” online forum. Her volunteering contributions have included marching and reading names at the Frankston Anzac Day Service in 2015, organising and planning for the Annual Frankston Stand for Change, TLC Forest Lodge Aged Care Centre, 2015 Iron-Man Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne, McClelland Col-
lege Hands on Learning and Connect and the Youth Day for Mental Health 2016. The Community Event of the Year award went to The Voice of Frankston, a solo singing competition open to people living, studying or working in Frankston or the Mornington Peninsula. The event showcases talent at community events with the aim of increasing the sense of pride within the community. It also helps to promote the arts and creates connections to the community. In presenting the awards, Cr Cunial said he was proud to honour the “inspiring” residents who epitomised what it means to be Australian. “Reverend Angel and Pastor Ulli, together with Roy and Louise, have given so much to our community and I’m proud to recognise their selfless achievements as we honour them as our 2017 Citizens of the Year,” he said. In conjunction with the announcement of the awards, this year’s Australia Day citizenship ceremony saw 67 adults and 13 children from 22 different countries became Australian citizens. Cr Curial said the new citizens included nine families “from across the globe who have chosen to call Frankston home”. “The Frankston City community is proud and excited to welcome our new Australian citizens to our municipality and we embrace them and wish them well.”
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