By Kerri-Anne
THE Uniting Church’s SHARE Community Appeal has allocated grants totalling $23,000 for two social welfare projects at the Sunshine mission.
The SHARE Community Appeal granted $13,000 to the mission’s Sunshine Mission Emergency Relief Project to provide disadvantaged people living in Sunshine and surrounding areas with emergency relief.
The other $10,000 was allocated to the mission’s Sunshine Mission Community Development Project.
This grant was allocated to help plan, implement and evaluate the delivery of effective community building initiatives and social and community work programs at Sunshine Mission, the appeal’s acting director, Sebert Ruddock, said.
Sunshine Mission operates in one of the most highly socially and economically disadvantaged areas in Victoria.
Many clients of Sunshine Mission had major mental health problems, significant relationship breakdowns and/or alcohol or other drug issues, Mr Ruddock said.
The emergency relief project aims to provide material assistance and to meet the immediate needs of those approaching the mission for assistance.
The community development project will serve people including refugees and asylum seekers residing in Brimbank who have experienced relationship breakdown, mental health issues, loneliness and isolation, homelessness, financial hardship, language barriers and/or cultural issues.
The mission’s Ces Martin said a number of programs were held at the mission that would benefit from this funding. They included gatherings for refugee women and preschoolers, Wednesday community lunches for all, the Brimbank Men’s Shed, the African Men’s Group, the Older Men New Ideas group and a group of African and Australian men.
