Discover what's happening around Jesuit Social Services.
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The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all aspects of the community, including our work at Jesuit Social Services.
We all have personal concerns including our mental and physical health as well as the wellbeing of our families and loved ones.
We also recognise that this situation will have serious implications, both directly and indirectly, for many of the marginalised members of the community we support through our programs.
We are adapting how we connect with those who need our support, and how we provide care during this time.
You will have been receiving regular updates from our acting CEO Sally Parnell, and other members of the Executive Team as our response to the pandemic has continued to evolve. Everything possible is being done to ensure that we can continue to support our participants, staff and volunteers and maintain our services during these trying times.
This newsletter contains news from around our programs to keep you informed of the other activity that has been taking place over the past few weeks. As always, if you have feedback or a story to share, please get in touch.
On the journey to a more ecologically just future
Jesuit Social Services has been dedicated to building a just society for more than 40 years.
Over the last decade, this approach has evolved to have a focus on ecological justice – that is the interconnection of social justice and environmental justice and the recognition that one cannot be achieved without addressing the other.
Our Waste discussion asks hard questions about consumption
On Thursday 27 February, over 50 people joined us at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute for Our Waste – Stuff, the first of three events looking at our relationship to the things we buy, eat and throw away.
The first Our Waste event challenged us to rethink our relationship with the things we buy and discard, the things we need and want, and the power of convenience.
Place-based social change on the agenda in Western Sydney
ChangeFest is a national celebration of place-based social change – which empowers and supports local communities to identify, plan, fund and evaluate the services they need.
In November 2019, the three-day event was held in Mount Druitt, Western Sydney, where we have worked with and alongside the community for 12 years. Read more about the event and how it helps communities increase their resilience and resourcefulness.
Alice Springs forum highlights climate solutions for Territory communities
Jesuit Social Services recently partnered with NTCOSS, Environment Centre NT, Arid Lands Environment Centre and Central Land Council to host a two day climate justice workshop in Alice Springs.
The event, held in early March, was an opportunity for organisations and community members to come together to build connections, share knowledge, skills and stories and generate just solutions to the climate challenges facing communities across the Northern Territory.
Bushfires expose the human reality of being stripped of home and family history - Andy Hamilton SJ
The recent fires were more than localised events. They made widespread changes to things that we take for granted: the light of the sun, transparency of the air, colour of beaches and the arrival of birds driven outside their normal habitat. The fires also affected social relationships. Communications in the form both of movement of people and goods and of electronic contact with families, medical centres and fire authorities, were disrupted. So was the commercial activity so important to the livelihood of coastal towns along the coast.
Jesuit Social Services joined other NT organisations to facilitate the Climate Solutions for Territory Communities forum in Alice Springs in early March. The two-day event brought together more than 100 representatives spanning community organisations, environmental organisations, land councils, Aboriginal communities and Government. Read more at the Alice Springs News and NT News.
The Men’s Project’s landmark Man Box research was referenced by author David Leser as being an important part of a proposed national education programs for boys and young men to unpack masculine stereotypes. Read it here.
We welcomed the Victorian Government’s commitment to introduce a legislated spent conviction scheme, which will allow people to turn their lives around, reconnect with community and contribute to society. Read our media release here.
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