Community Gro Annual Report 2021-2022

ANNUAL REPORT

2021–2022

Empowering Change in Lives and Communities

Community Gro acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them, their culture and to the Elders past, present and emerging. We particularly acknowledge the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people on whose land Community Gro Inc. is located.

President’s Report

Mark Tyrell

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to start by acknowledging the Wulgurukaba people who are the traditional owners of this land that we meet upon today. I also acknowledge the Bindal people whom we share this great nation with and pay my respect to them, their culture and to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Further acknowledgement

I am pleased to offer the President’s Report for Community Gro for the Financial Year 20212022. I wish to firstly recognize the support of the Federal member, Phillip Thompson OAM MP; State members, Minister Scott Stewart MP, Aaron Harper MP, and Les Walker MP; civic leaders, Mayor Jenny Hill and Deputy Mayor, Mark Molachino.

2021–2022 Year in reflection

The Board of Community Gro has successfully overseen another year of operation, during a year of growth. I would like to personally

acknowledge the members of our Board, Aman Bargri, Zammi Rohan, Stephanie Gillman, Marnie Bricknell, Karl McKenzie and Sandra CrosatoMatters, I thank you for your contribution to Community Gro and your ongoing commitment to support the organisation.

Community Gro continues to provide quality services to our communities and provide a safe place-based service to Upper Ross and Garbutt residents. This year has seen continued brand awareness as we have worked towards a greater recognition of our services in the Townsville Community. This success has resulted in an increase in our programs, funding and support by businesses, partners and stakeholders and we are grateful for this continued investment in such important work.

Community Gro has continued to refine our financial systems, and this year has seen another successful financial audit. Our Corporate service structure, policies and procedures continues to be a focus of the team, to ensure we are meeting best practices

standards for HR, Finance and Administration. Like many similar organisations the programs that we deliver would not be possible without the support of government funding. Thank you to:

• Australian Government, Department of Social Services

• Brotherhood of St Laurence

• Queensland Government, Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy

• Queensland Government, Department of Education

• Queensland Government, Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

• Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment

• Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care

• Townsville City Council

• Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Services

• The Smith Family

• Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand

Future Focus

Looking towards the future, Community Gro has been successful in several tenders for new programs including a new Youth Hub for Garbutt funded by Department of Industry Science and, Energy and Resources, a new family support program funded by The Smith Family which aims to support reengagement into schools, a new financial resilience program

funded by Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, and a new playgroup for families with children 0-3years funded by The Smith Family. These programs will continue to meet the need for services in our communities and demonstrate our commitment to supporting the Upper Ross and Garbutt communities with best practice programs.

Recognition of Staff

At Community Gro we are privileged to have staff that are both passionate and committed to the work that they do and the organisation itself. We have an outstanding leadership group that provides an environment for all staff to feel safe and allow them to grow and develop their skills. I extend my gratitude and thanks to all staff of the organisation.

Recognition of Volunteers

I would also like to formally acknowledge and thank the many wonderful volunteers that turn up year after year to assist the organisation in delivering the many varied programs that we offer. I have often said that the value these wonderful people provide Community Gro is priceless. On behalf of the Board and myself, again, thank you for all your help.

In closing I would like to re-assure our members, patrons, staff, volunteers and stakeholders that Community Gro will always strive towards excellence and continue to flourish. We look forward to another wonderful year of operation in 2023.

Mark Tyrell Board President

CEO Report

Kathrin Meehan

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we work, live, and walk, the Wulgurukaba people and the Bindal people. I pay my respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.

I am incredibly proud of our achievements over the past 12 months and the ongoing commitment, dedication and care demonstrated by the Board, staff, and volunteers at Community Gro. This year has seen Community Gro expand the range of services and programs available to the community. We have introduced several programs, activities and services which provide further place-based support to our community. This has resulted in a significant expansion of our staffing numbers and Community Gro will soon be a staffing cohort of 41 staff.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the Board members for their continued support of myself and our organisation. Our Board is an admirable representation of kindness, compassion, and dedication in our community, and I am very fortunate to have a diverse range of experts to provide support, education, and knowledge to myself and the staff. Thank you to Mark, Aman, Zammi, Marnie, Stephanie, Karl, and Sandra for your support of me and for your continued commitment to support the organisation to work effectively with the community.

I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to the staff and volunteers of Community Gro, for their tireless efforts, dedication, care, compassion, and amazing spirit in all aspects of our work. Community Gro staff have provided quality services to our community through hard work, creativity

to finding solutions, tenacity to stay with someone in their time of need, and continued ability to laugh. Our work is not always easy, but our shared values and dedication, and our ability to support each other, has provided some amazing outcomes for clients and community. Community Gro is also extremely fortunate to have an amazing group of volunteers who are dedicated to supporting our organisation and continue to show up and work hard, demonstrating an amazing community spirit. Thank you in particular to Andrew, Auntie Gertie, Wilma, Kelvin, Tracy, Leita, Noel, Ted, Peter, Pepper and Skye who have been committed to Community Gro over several years and continue to provide staff and community with support.

I want to acknowledge our funding bodies, partner organisations, and sponsors who have worked alongside us to deliver support to the community through challenging times. Community Gro has partnered with a range of organisations, businesses and stakeholders who share our values and mission to support our community. Significant donations have been received from Sensory Group, Aaron Harper MP, Efex, Dominos Kelso and DSDSATSIP staff. It is through donations of time, money and support that Community Gro has been able to achieve amazing outcomes for individuals, families and community.

Our focus this year has been on growth of presence and support in our communities. Community Gro is focussed on providing quality services to our community and our approach is to listen to the needs of the community and find ways to meet the needs. In addition, our focus has been on streamlining process to ensure best

value for money. This has resulted in Community Gro implementing a new client management system, improved financial process and several programs which has created efficiencies for staff and improved processes.

Community Gro had some challenges this year. The beginning of 2022 commenced with Community Gro needing to pivot quickly due to high numbers of COVID cases in our community. Community Gro staff were responsive, adaptable, and ensured continuation of services in innovative and different ways. While Community Gro continued to provide services throughout the lockdown, staff and volunteers were relieved to get back to normal business and while COVID remains, we continue to provide services while adhering to our COVID safe policies and procedures.

This Annual Report will highlight our achievements across our programs providing services to the Upper Ross and Garbutt communities. Some of the highlights for us this year include:

• Our Annual Family Fun Day on Saturday 25th June with over 2000 people attending. This day was significantly larger than previous years, with Townsville City Council providing increased funds for Community Gro to host a large-scale family event in the Upper Ross.

• Community Gro was successful in a grant from Queensland Country Bank to purchase a new Kia Carnival for the Garbutt Community Centre. This is through the Queensland Country Good for Good Community Grants Program. This has provided additional support for the community through transport options for clients and emergency relief delivery.

• Community Gro was successful in a grant for increased security systems at the Garbutt Community Centre. This grant was provided by Safer Communities Fund which provided additional cameras and safety measures to ensure the community centre is a safe space for all.

• Community Gro was successful for a grant through Aurizon to improve our Upper Ross community garden which has now evolved into a partnership with Northreach Upper Ross Baptist Church for the Good Soil Project.

• Community Gro was successful for a grant to provide a Road Safety Workshop, bikes, and helmets to Kelso School students through Department of Transport and Main Roads. This was successful with 20 children receiving new bikes and helmets and learning about road safety.

• Community Gro was successful for two grants from the Port of Townsville, for a washing machine and dryer for the Garbutt community Centre and Emergency Relief Funds to

provide support to clients.

• Community Gro held successful Community Christmas Parties at Garbutt and Upper Ross Community Centres with over 200% increased attendance in 2021 compared to previous years.

• Community Gro received a grant from Ergon Energy for upgrade to the Upper Ross kitchen to increase usability for community.

• Community Gro was successful in a grant from Gambling Community Benefit Fund for a washing machine and dryer at the Upper Ross Community Centre and increased office space for staff at the Upper Ross.

• An announcement from Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy of increased funding for Neighbourhood Centres for Garbutt and Upper Ross into next financial year.

• Community Gro was approached to provide auspice of the Townsville NAIDOC events and this has been a significant learning opportunity for Community Gro.

• Upper Ross Community Centre was granted management of the Emergency Relief funds from Althea Projects for the Upper Ross Community.

• Community Gro raised brand awareness through wrapping of all the Community Gro fleet vehicles.

• Community Gro staff, along with Indigenous Artist Sharon Phineasa, created the Community Gro story through Indigenous artwork (next page).

Community Gro will continue to provide support into the future and our next 12 months are going to be focussed on setting ourselves up for the next three years. Our focus will be on establishing our new programs: Garbutt Youth Hub, Financial Resilience Program, Parent-Child Mother Goose, and Linking School and Community. In addition, our three-year Strategic Plan will finish in February 2023 and our focus is on developing a strategic plan which guarantees our continued support to the community.

I am looking forward to continuing to work with the Board, staff, volunteers and community to deliver a safe and welcoming space and meet the needs of our changing community.

Kathrin Meehan CEO

Our Story in Artwork

“Mura Kaymel Zageth”

(Kala Kawaw Ya dialect meaning - Our Work Together)

This artwork is dedicated to Community Gro’s work providing for Community members in need of support and access to essential services. Community Gro assists in empowering people’s lives, Working together with individuals and families from across all cultures, abilities and ages in the Townsville community.

The Circle

Community Gro’s logo with inner circle design representing the organisation’s connection to community. It is a meeting place and is a welcoming space for community members to socialise with others across cultures, abilities and ages.

The Flowers

The hibiscus and frangipani flowers represent blossoming of individuals/ families as Community Gro supports their educational, financial and emotional well-being. It also is a symbol of celebration when people are empowered to make life changing choices and succeed in areas of their lives that Community Gro has assisted them - whether it be with community education on use of computers; completing resumes and job applications; and parenting, financial and life education programs.

The Water

Furthermore, the body of water that is present in this design references the Ross River that flows through Townsville.

The Turtles

The turtles are symbolic of individuals or families on life’s journey and overcoming challenges and obstacles. The circle motifs represent food sources and how Community Gro provides food relief to families in need.

The Tree

The tree depicted as a family and Community Gro logo in amongst the leaves references Community Gro’s commitment to delivering holistic services and support necessary to ensure safety, financial wellbeing and life changing opportunities. These aspects are an integral part of Community Gro providing positive growth and development within our community.

Community Gro supports grass roots level support for individuals and families by providing essential services and to empower them to make informed decisions and explore opportunities for development.

The Dots

The black, red, yellow & white dots along the top boarders and around the tree represent Community Gro’s progressive momentum in working alongside Indigenous staff & community members in positive outreach and support programs where they are needed.

Flora

The leaf designs and other motifs in this space are symbolic of growth, opportunities and the ebb and flow in life. It also shows how Community Gro provides all kinds of support to people across the life cycle in Townsville: Information, advice, referral and advocacy; practical support including food relief and help with household items; and somebody who will listen.

Boomerang

The Boomerang & Dhari designs represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, many of which access support services through Community Gro centres in Townsville. These centre’s have Indigenous staff who provide support in culturally appropriate ways.

Upper Ross Community Centre

Belinda Jensen

The Upper Ross Community Centre continues to be a local source of activities, information, and support for our community.

Our fantastic volunteers continue to keep our centre well-presented and welcoming for our community along with JCU Social Work Students who come to our centre to learn how to support community at a ground level.

Our partnerships with OzHarvest, Second Bite and Brumby’s helps those in need in our community with food products including dairy, meat, bread, fruit and vegetables,

Over 16,590 community visits to access our Centre resources and activities including but not limited to transport, community events, computer use, enquiries, office services, emergency food relief, information, advice, and casework.

We have had over 4,300 community visits to access our regular Community Gro programs including computer lessons, JP services, legal advice, playgroup, tax help, school holiday programs, Shield of H.E.R.S. and Youth Hub.

External Centre use and hire continued to increase with over 3,000 community members accessing church groups, disability employment services, Queensland Health clinics, social group activities and Upper Ross Emergency Relief Collective.

Our Community Fun Day and Big Breakfast were both a huge success this year with over 2,000 community members attending the events. These free events assist us to continue to bring the community together.

Wednesday 20th October 8am-10am

Over the past year

16,590 community visits to access our Centre resources and activities

Family Support Hub

Claire Meikle

The service is pleased to report that the additional funding received in 2021 has resulted in the recruitment of additional staff in the Family Support Hub. This has allowed the service being able to redesign the Family Support Hub program to provide Intensive Support to more families in the Upper Ross community where there are complex needs impacting negatively on children. Family Support Hub has delivered a range of services to support parent/carer and child wellbeing with a focus on increasing parenting efficacy, increasing the number of children developmentally on track and improving rates of kindy enrolments.

Some of the key issues impacting families in the Upper Ross community include:

• Domestic and Family Violence

• Housing instability and homelessness

• Financial instability

• Parental and child mental health issues

• Children presenting with possible developmental delays not accessing assessment and intervention from Early Intervention services

• Transport issues leading to social isolation and decreased accessibility of specialist services

Family Support Hub staff have developed productive partnerships with specialist services to meet the needs of families and children. These strong partnerships have resulted in positive outcomes for families and children. Through integrated service delivery the service has seen many positive outcomes for families receiving intensive support.

Family Support Hub also continues to facilitate Playgroup with a focus on parent and child engagement. This has been successful by partnering with local services to deliver activities focused on increasing parent/carer

awareness of their child’s development and improving parenting efficacy. Parents and children continue to have access to Child Health and Midwifery services.

A broad range of professional developmental activities were undertaken by staff to support service delivery, including:

• Early Years Conference

• Tuning in to Kids – Emotionally Intelligent Parenting

• Crossroads – Trauma informed, reflective parenting program for parents whose children have been impacted by DFV.

199 Playgroup total attendances

79 Playgroup individual families

140 individual families received Intensive Support

‘I received the support I needed when I needed it most. I feel listened to and supported, and this has helped me to feel more confident as a parent.’

Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY)

Tracy Bright

This year we enrolled 25 families into the Age 4 cohort and Age 5 started the year with 10 families and are fortunate to have two dedicated tutors to teach parents/ caregivers how to be their child’s first teacher. We currently have 11 families in Age 4 and 8 families in Age 5 cohorts. Unfortunately for many reasons we have seen families leave HIPPY however we have had the ability to teach families the foundation knowledge of the HIPPY program. This is the final year that families were recruited into the Age 4 cohort with the new curriculum changing to accommodate for children turning 3 years of age.

We have attended several events in the community including Under 8’s days, community events, Community Gro Fun Day, radio timeslots, local kindy’s and schools to increase the community’s awareness of the HIPPY program and the benefits of the HIPPY program for families. We have had great success with our HIPPY advertising on Facebook with over 2. 5k users reached regularly and our main HIPPPY recruitment post reaching over 4,200 users. The HIPPY families are posting pictures and videos of their HIPPY child doing their HIPPY activities weekly on our private group.

Our families have been actively engaged in the Parent Group Meetings and enjoy doing the

activities for the week including making goop, playdough and learning about their child’s development through sound awareness, story comprehension and transition to school. We linked in with William Ross High School construction students who were more than happy to make HIPPY boxes for new children entering the HIPPY program. Thank you to all students and teachers involved in making this happen. The children love their new HIPPY boxes.

Highlights

Dad joining in HIPPY – age 5 child – second year HIPPY

Mum has been doing HIPPY journey with child without dad’s involvement. Dad has decided to do HIPPY with child too. Dad is doing HIPPY from Orange Pack 1 Age 4 in order, so as not to take away from mum and child’s time in Age 5. Child now gets to enjoy HIPPY twice with both parents.

Full time work and HIPPY

Mum has gone back to full time work – HIPPY visits are done via Microsoft Teams in Mum’s lunch break. Packs are dropped off in mailbox day before planned home visit. Family has been able to maintain HIPPY in their very busy schedule.

Community Visitors Scheme

Colleen Doyle

The Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) continued to operate under trying circumstances in 2021–2022 due to the ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic.

Taking on the program Coordinator role in January 2022 I needed to re-establish networks with the aged care facilities in the Townsville area of the Northern Region. The region extends north to Ingham, south to Bowen and west to Charters Towers. The funding provided to the program enables us to work with the 14 facilities in the Townsville area. These facilities include:

• Arcare North Shore

• Blue Care Caryle Gardens

• Blue Care Shalom Village

• Blue Care Mt Lousia

• Bolton and Clarke Glendale

• Bolton and Clarke Rowes Bay

• Carinity Fairfield Grange

• Loretto (Mercy Community Services NQ)

• OzCare (Villa Vincent)

• Parklands Residential Aged Care Facility

• Regis Kirwan

• Good Shepherd Nursing Home

The pandemic has significantly impacted our ability to physically visit residents within facilities, in May an additional mandate of the third COVID injection was put in place which had precluded some visitors from attending as they were not willing to have the third shot.

Contact has been made with all 14 facilities to offer the support of the CVS program. We will continue to pursue a relationship with the remaining facilities.

In an endeavour to mitigate the negative impacts on the program we have introduced

several programs, these include:

The Post Card Project

This program enables multiple residents to be communicated with by a smaller number of volunteers. We have been supported with this project by TAFE North Queensland. 25 students participating in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) commenced writing postcards to residents of Bolton and Clarke (Rowes Bay). This project was included as part of the assessment work for the students. Initially students were told not to expect a written response from residents, however the residents themselves chose to write back. This resulted in the students expressing a desire to meet residents face-to-face.

Postcards have also been written by other volunteers who wished to participate in the program but are not able to visit face to face. This has proven to be a highly successful way of increasing communications and social connections particularly while COVID was at its height.

Approximately

140 postcards have been sent since the program was introduced in March 2022

FEEDBACK

Kim Pyke Volunteer Coordinator

Good Shepherd Nursing Home

“Hi Colleen, A quick email to say thank you for the latest postcards. The Residents are going to be excited when it’s mail call. Have a great week.”

A student (AMEP) meeting her Pen Pal

TAFE students and Residents

Connected Beginnings

Tracy Bright

The Connected Beginnings Team have engaged extensively with community in the Upper Ross, sharing conversations on issues that have impacted them and providing insight into the issues that are significant to their community. The Connected Beginnings Team is working with the community to give them a voice to raise awareness about issues and the need for a collaborative response with stakeholders and partners to work on systemic changes to Close the Gap on the participation for First Nation’s children in early childhood education and health programs.

The networking activities with stakeholders included but not restricted to:

• Hosting at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships information sessions

• Creating the Upper Ross Early Childhood Education and Health Action Group (Representatives from Government Departments, Community Organisations and Agencies)

• Creating the Upper Ross Centrals Network Group (Baptist Church, Salvation Army, PCYC, Shalom and Connected Beginnings)

• Networking with kindergartens and schools

• Participating in major events to promote the Connected Beginnings Program

The Sorry Day Dinner

The purpose of dinner was to show our respect to our local elders and acknowledge their contribution to First Nation’s Peoples plight. The night was about connecting community with our elders and educating the younger generation on the significance of Sorry Day and Stolen Generation.

The dinner was attended by local elders including Wulgurukaba and Bindal with

Randal Ross as guest speaker. The elders are an integral part of the Connected Beginnings Team; building cultural capability and identity for our children.

As a result of the positive feedback from community, the event will be held again next year which will lead into Reconciliation Week with the support of the Upper Ross Central Network Group.

The Upper Ross Central Group was initiated by the Connected Beginnings Team to collaborate, share and streamline resources to meet the needs of the Upper Ross community.

Connected Beginnings First Nations Group

The Upper Ross Connected Beginnings (CB) team played a key role in the establishment of CB’s First Nations National Group. The initiative creates a safe space for all CB First Nations staff across the country to share their knowledge and learnings, challenges and successes, and empower each other. The Upper Ross team co-designed the initiative with Ninti-One and supported by Commonwealth

Community Connect Program

Topsy Mola

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the Wulgurukaba and Bindal people who are the traditional owners of this land we work and live on and pay my respect to our Elders past, present and emerging.

Well, what can I say? Another amazing year of providing realistic support, advice, advocacy and creating referral pathways to the appropriate services for our community. I must admit, it truly breaks my heart to see many of our families in the Upper Ross having multiple and complex worries, but what mends it is the opportunity that CCP provide to our families. It creates a safe space to yarn, chance to truly tell their story and work hand in hand towards achieving positive outcomes. Some families may take longer than others and will continue to seek our help but so many go on to achieving amazing and life changing outcomes.

The focus of case work with families has been to work collaboratively with clients to identify their priority needs and creating plans to address these needs. The families who received a service during this reporting period have been very grateful for the support and often mention how they would not have been where they are without our assistance.

Exciting news! The introduction of our own intensive Family Support Program with Community Gro has increased the organisations capacity to support families with children aged 0–8 years. CCP and Family Support Hub have been doing amazing work in this space to meet the needs of families in the Upper Ross area.

Shield of H.E.R.S. First Nations Women’s Group

This year 15 new women joined the group with eight women continuing from the previous year. One of the many highlights were 5 women securing full-time employment. Some of the amazing topics discussed in yarn time were:

• Resilience

• Trust

• Rebuilding relationship with our children

• Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!

• Straight Talk

• Compromise

Each topic is transferred into a creative poster to display in the room, as pictured above.

“I don’t know how I would have managed” 13

“I can breathe again”

Case Study

Client called URCC seeking assistance with food. After further discussion it was identified that further assistance was needed.

• He mentioned he was tired of going to the doctors and wanted to give up. He advised he had been in a car accident. His injuries were severe which led to losing his job and having to relocate to Townsville for medical reasons. He also had to sell his car as he is unable to drive and relies heavily on public transport.

• He lives alone and has no family support or support from service providers.

• Medication kept in an esky due to not having a refrigerator.

• No washing machine – hand wash.

• Unable to maintain his home or make meals.

Action/Referrals

• Food assistance was provided by URCC.

• CCP purchased a Wheelie Walker and fridge and delivered to the client.

• Outsourced for a washing machine, this was also delivered to him.

• Referred to NDIS provider to assist with application for assistance with home help and other supports.

• Completed intake and application for community transport.

• Discussed options to join social groups –expand his networks.

• Organised meals on wheels and cleaner Outcome

Client was so grateful; we couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. He kept reminding me of how lucky he was to make the call to URCC, as he has never been assisted or supported like this and it felt nice to be cared for. He is attending his medical appointments on a regular basis; he now can have fresh fruit and vegies and keep his medication stored in the fridge.

He has healthy meals, and his home is maintained. We will continue to provide support until his NDIS package is processed.

Upper Ross Youth Hub

Kasey Cassady

Upper Ross Youth Hub continues to deliver services to the Upper Ross region for young persons aged from 10 to 17 years old. We are an after hours service and operate from 5pm to 11pm Monday to Friday. Transport is available and we provide cooked meals every night.

The Upper Ross Youth Hub have been through a number of changes over the past 12 months through assessing the needs of youth in the local area. In consultation with TAIHS Lighthouse our program now looks a little different than our Youth Drop-in, and throughout this process, we have diminished a number of risks to our service. We now do pick ups and drop offs and offer a number of activities to address the needs of youth in the areas. Some of our activities are listed below:

• Yarning Up – Youth participants sit in a circle, go around and talk about their day. Youth introduce themselves and saying who their mob is – This activity builds self confidence and strength in self identity.

• Collaboration – With TAIHS Lighthouse doing a “GET ACTIVE” program and most recently at the Aikenvale library studio, where young people have fun in a studio environment working with green screens and recording

• Bala Boyz – Friday nights are for males only. Male youth workers provide mentoring and encourage boys to engage in a variety of

activities whilst also talking to boys on a range of different topics

• Sistagurlz – Thursday nights are for girls only. Female youth workers provide mentoring and encourage girls to engage in a variety of activities whilst talking to girls about hygiene, healthy relationships and overall health and wellbeing. Also have pamper nights, arts and craft activities, vision boards and more

• Drop in Nights – Wednesday are drop in nights. We invite all youth to come in and have a feed, as well as access to computers, basketball game, movie night and games night

Highlights

The year of 2022 started off slowly with COVID restrictions in place in and around Queensland. During this period the Upper Ross Youth Hub continued to operate in a different way, instead we delivered a mobile service to ensure that our youth workers were still seen and we continued to engage with youth. A mobile service from local parks in the Upper Ross such as APEX Park and Charles Moroney Park providing fruit, meals and water which were prepared at the centre, we also conducted street checks to ensure that youth were able to get home safely and informed them of restrictions and encouraged them to stay home if they weren’t feeling well.

284 284 37

Total Contacts Distinct Contacts Distinct Persons

Data from 12/1/2022 to 23/2/2022.

During 2022 the Upper Ross Youth Hub supported 14 boys to register and play with Upper Ross Rams Rugby League team. Youth workers AJ Willis and Thomas Schwartz were also part of the coaching team and provided assistance with pick ups and drop offs to training and games.

Throughout the football season, the boys learnt to work as a team and the importance of consistency. They were also able to identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses and encouraged each other despite any losses.

AJ and Thomas have done amazing work with the boys along with mentoring them along the way and encouraging them to make healthy choices in life.

Upper Ross Rams Footy Club

288 288 19

Total Contacts Distinct Contacts Distinct Persons 288 288 19

Total Contacts Distinct Contacts Distinct Persons

Kasey Cassady – Youth Hub Coordinator

“My vision for the Upper Ross Youth Hub is to provide our own space where the youth can come in and relax in a space where they can display their artwork and positive messages. I also hope to gain more funding to provide mentoring roles and more training for our Youth workers who work endlessly to keep our youth safe.”

Partnerships and collaborations

A big thank you to TAIHS Lighthouse for their continued support and collaboration with the Upper Ross Youth Hub, we continue to do the “GET ACTIVE” program once a month.

Thank you to Deadly Choices for tickets the Cowboys Game at the new Queensland Country Bank Stadium, the youth had an awesome night cheering for the North Queensland Cowboys.

We continue to work with Youth Justice CoResponse team who work tirelessly to get our youth home safely.

Feedback

When asked why youth enjoy coming to Upper Ross Youth Hub, responses include:

Both Neither

3,540 88 Total Contacts Distinct Individuals 54 27 7 Age 9–12 Age 13–15 Age 16–17 46 42 Male Female 49 7 26 6 Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander

Data from 21/3/2022 to 17/8/2022

“Everything, friends”

“Computer room, friends”

“Computer lab, wifi and food”

“The youth workers take good care of us and it’s fun”

“Playing with friends, basketball”

“I like to talk and laugh with youth workers”

“Cold water, food, friends, computers, football and basketball”

“Meeting ne socialising”

Garbutt Community Centre

Courtney Hart

What an adventure the Garbutt Community Centre has had over the past 12 months! We have grown so much as a Community Centre; not only have we grown with hard working staff and new programs, but we have also seen an increase in community members attending our centre for advice, referrals, and support.

We have continued to support our local community members of the Garbutt and Townsville West area and have seen some positive changes in regular clients that have been through a tough time to now having a job – part-time employment and popping in the Centre to say hello every now and then. It is great to see such a positive change since having regular employment. We love seeing our clients have an increased feeling of independence and accomplishment.

We have also been fortunate enough to have linked in with OzHarvest, which is an amazing food rescue organisation. Our Garbutt Centre receives a weekly delivery of rescued food items from local Woolworths in Townsville. This initiative has helped us to be able to provide food support to our local community members that are in need food assistance. As we are all aware, Emergency Food Relief is one of our highest needs in community, so it has been fulfilling to see people take healthy wholesome foods home to eat.

Garbutt Community Centre has also been fortunate enough to receive extra funding for some great programs in the next financial year. Thanks to the funding from The Smith Family, we have our Linking to Schools Project and our Parent-Child Mother Goose Program which will commence next financial year.

Regular Programs

• Common Ground Art and Craft Hub

• Community Kitchen

• Kids Afternoon Tea Program

• OzHarvest – free food hampers for community

• Basketball Hoop

• School Holiday Program

• Be Connected – computer classes 50+

• Tiddas Yarning Circle

• JP service

• Orange Sky – free laundry service

External Program Using Facility

• Thriving Kinnections – Family and Domestic Violence Resource Group

Our lovely volunteer Tracy has been with us for two years. We have been so grateful to have such a hard-working volunteer who cooks all our meals, organises lunch and assists with Arts & Crafts activities for our Common Ground Art & Craft group.

Skilling Queenslanders for Work – Servicing Community

Belinda Jensen

Over the 12 months of the project we enrolled 35 community members into the Certificate III Community Services.

Many participants faced multiple barriers including access to childcare, transportation, learning difficulties and simply the challenges of daily life. Through these challenges we saw many participants determined to attend and successfully complete their training and show others that if they to want to succeed they can.

Of the 34 participants who enrolled in the training, 25 completed the program and 17 have gone on to secure ongoing employment including some with Community Gro.

“Thanks to Sonia, Upper Ross Community Centre, Selectability & Skilling Queensland DESBT for helping me gain my Certificate III in Community Services. I’ve been a stay-at-home mum for seven years, getting knocked back from jobs because I have been out for the working life for too long a time. On November 1, three weeks after graduation I scored part-time employment with Selectability as a Lifestyle Support Worker though waiting on a start date to come as waiting on my NDIS Works screening check.”

Patricia

January 2022 saw us commence our first Skilling Queenslanders for Work Youth Skills program to assist participants aged 15–24 who are linked to Youth Justice, Queensland Police or Queesland Corrections, to gain nationally recognised skills and vocational qualifications.

Our program commenced with 14 participants all of which have multiple and complex barriers in attending the accredited training and in general everyday life. Through a supportive and coordinated approach we aim to assist these participants to obtain qualifications and be productive members of society.

– Cohort 3

Improving Resilience and Wellbeing Program

Courtney Hart

The last two years have seen some tough times with the COVID pandemic. Our already fragile community went through social isolation and increased hardship. Our Wellbeing and Resilience program was able to provide support to our community with free Wellbeing and Resilience Sessions which provided tools and training of focusing on how to cope and identifying strategies to help deal with chronic stress, acute stress, problem solving, positive talk, self-care and mindfulness.

We were also able to provide our Community with Disaster Management Sessions to raise awareness on how to be cyclone ready, flood awareness and pandemic preparedness.

PlayGro Garbutt

Courtney Hart

July 2021 – June 2022 saw our last 12 months with our PlayGro Program. PlayGro provided weekly playgroups for parents/carers with children 3–5 years old. Our family support worker was able to provide support, advice and referrals though attendance by relevant local community service organisations at each session providing parents with warm referral opportunities and contacts.

Fun Interactive Creative Sessions were included with Singing Teacher from Little Voices, artists and/or children’s authors encouraging imagination and love of literacy.

We had the privilege of having a local Townsville children’s book author –Norah Kersh come and read her books to our PlayGro families.

We shared healthy morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea and provided recipes for parents to take home.

We also saw positive improvements with the children’s developmental milestones through fun interactive physical play sessions with local organisations BFiTT, Sporty Kids, especially designed for children to develop fine and gross motor skills.

No Interest Loan Scheme Report

Tracey Peace

NILS delivered in partnership with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand. Demand for NILS loans during the 2021-2022 FY increased over the previous financial year.

4 Baby items

No Interest Loan Scheme redesigned to meet changes needs of community:

Community Gro has been partnering with Good Shepherd to deliver NILS since 2012. During this time we have supported many hundreds of individuals and families to access the program. During 2021 partner organisations, community networks, and clients were given the opportunity to provide feedback to Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (GSANZ) on the NILS program, with a particular focus on how the program could be enhanced to reduce barriers experience by clients and to meet the diverse needs of our community. In response to the feedback, GSANZ announced a redesign of the NILS program to be rolled out from July 2022. The aim of redesigned NILS program is to help to improve client experience and a focus on making the program more easily accessible, flexible and realistic as possible to meet community needs.

Summary of changes to the NILS program:

• Increased loan amount (up to $3,000)

• Increased repayment term

• Expanded loan purposes

• Increased income threshold for eligibility

• Changes to required documentation to help remove barriers for applicants

• Streamlined policy/process for repeat borrowers and top-up loans

• Additional loan products/policy – NILS for DV, NILS for Cars and NILS Natural Disaster policy

Building financial literacy through the Financial Resilience program (Queensland)

In December 2021 the Queensland Government announced $4 million in funding for a pilot program to provide an additional 20 financial resilience workers across Queensland, through a joint initiative with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand.

Good Shepherd will partner with neighbourhood and community centres at selected sites throughout Queensland to deliver the financial resilience project. In June 2022 it was announced that Community Gro had been selected as one of the participating partners. Community GRO will work closely with GSANZ over the next 18 months to deliver the Financial Resilience Program. It is hoped that the outcomes of the pilot program will evidence the need for the program to continue to be delivered beyond the pilot program.

The free program will support individuals and families who are experiencing financial challenges to increase their skills and capacity that will lead to long term financial wellbeing and success and reducing their risk of falling prey to predatory lending and other unscrupulous practices.

The benefit of delivering a financial resilience project through neighbourhood and community centres is financial resilience workers are guided by strong local knowledge and connections to other local support services.

These are the summarised financial statements for the year 2020-2021. Copies of the complete financial audited statements are available.