News from The House ... No images? Click here Karinya News - June 2021Dear Friends of KarinyaIs it really June? Already! We don't know about you, but for all of us here at Karinya, the 2021 year is flying by! And what a year it has been. A mixed bag, a constant surprise, a bit of up and down, a challenge, many moments of joy, giving thanks and celebrating achievements... so many ways to describe the first half of 2021. As we compile this latest news from The House, we have one concern above all others. The increasing lack of safe and affordable housing in the Region is beginning to take a toll on our community. This impacts many, and especially those among us who are seeking safe and affordable housing. We are seeing this impact the women we journey with. This situation also impacts our team. The Karinya Care Team highlight this issue as a cause of stress - for women and for their support team. Being unable to secure safe and affordable housing as part of a woman's pathway and being unable to exit women from residence at Karinya due to the absence of (sustainable) safe and affordable housing options are currently the key issues being faced as part of service delivery. Safe and secure housing is a vital component to many positive aspects of a person's life. The housing issue is certainly one that extends way beyond our Canberra Region, across our Nation. And the ponderings on this matter will continue here at Karinya. Thank you as always for your part in the Karinya Village. We hope you enjoy the news from The House... Alice's StoryWe struggle at Karinya to explain the work we do ... the standing with, the standing alongside... For each of us here, the stories of the women we journey with - each and every story - is a work in itself. A complex work of shared learning and shared experience. With this in mind, here is “Alice’s Story“. A story of a woman’s perseverance and a story of hope. We are privileged to walk alongside each and every woman for whom Karinya House is part of their journey. We thank Missing Bits Productions, Ben and Adam, for the gift of this video, which features the story of Alice, shared by Executive Director, Marie-Louise Corkhill and Senior Health Professional and Midwife (since retired), Anne Brown. And we especially thank Alice. It did happen!You did celebrate women in May - as you do every year! Total Funds raised for the 2021 May Day Appeal.. $70,568. Next year's budget is already looking very tight so this result is welcome. Mid-way through we looked completely stalled about a third of the way to our target of $62,000. Then along came a few of Karinya's May Marvels, personal donors who have donated (substantially) in May for many, many years. Contributing to the total raised were two external fundraising events. The Allambee Club Art Fair was a complete surprise and raised a contribution that astounded everybody and is included in the total above. The Style by Wesson event (thank you Geri!) also surpassed expectations. We thank our Friends who did "Gala at Home". and we also thank Sharwood Hampers, and TwoLoose Wine Co for their ever present support. Where would we be without our Friends? We would not be here. Save the Date: 29 April 2022 - Next Year - the return of the Karinya House Annual Mother's Day Gala Dinner! 🤞🏽 Your donations as part of our annual operating budget: * support over 200 women each year through a critical period of their lives, with every support period on average around 120 days. Over 80% of women supported by Karinya achieve over half of their aspirational goals whilst we stand alongside. Many more kick those goals some time later! Some even let us know, somewhere down the track. * support over 6,000 nights of safe and supported accommodation. The average residential stay is 116 days. * ensure we are on the end of a phone or in the near vicinity every hour of every day. * recognise with us that every woman matters, and that every woman who is pregnant or parenting a baby should be surrounded by the supports she needs. Thank you. Snippets.. Recent visits to the House...What is in a Terrarium? ... “From the bottom of my heart, I would like to say thank you very much for what you all have given to me and my daughter. Your endless support that always encourages and helps me to learn and grow every single day. I do not know how to thank you all enough. I’m feeling blessed that I have met all the amazing people at Karinya. Read more A woman who we walked alongside years ago popped in with this vase of flowers for the Karinya team as a Mother's Day gift. She said that everyday she is grateful for all the support she received from Karinya House. She is going well and kicking goals and her little one has commenced primary school and is thriving! Another day recently and another visit from a woman from times past... As she said herself, she is “doing really well”. The woman was so pleased to let us know she now has her older child in her full time care. The little baby she had whilst living at Karinya House, was also looking gorgeous. Mum said, “both children are happy and healthy and doing really well at day care”. (and Mum seems very happy too!) Read More Welcome Alexandra...A warm welcome to Alexandra Ball, who joined the Karinya Team on 1 February 2021. As a Registered Midwife, Alexandra is our Senior Health Professional Team Leader and comes to us from her work at Canberra’s QEII Family Centre. Of her work to date here at Karinya House, Alexandra’s reflections on her golden moments so far are.... Beyond Bank is now Our BankWe are excited to welcome Beyond Bank as a Community Partner as well as a valued service provider. Together with the provision of banking services. Karinya House is now part of the Beyond Bank Community Reward Program. If you already bank with Beyond Bank, and you have a Community Reward Account with Beyond Bank, you are able to nominate us as your chosen cause. The more you save the more you earn and the more Beyond Bank will donate to us at no cost to you. It’s that simple. Join the Karinya Team...We currently have a number of vacancies in these following areas: Support Worker (Casual - Weeknight and Weekend/Overnight Support) Caseworker/Senior Caseworker - Fixed Term positions - parental leave relief - through to December 2022. If you know of anyone who is interested in joining the Karinya Team you may like to share this eNewsletter with them. The link below is for the Caseworker position only, but does provide contact information for enquiries about employment opportunities. Have you heard about "Ripple"?Our good Friends at FARE Australia, who brought us the "Pregnant Pause" campaign, have now developed "Ripple". Ripple is a project supporting women aged 40-65 in the ACT to reduce the amount of alcohol they drink. Many women experience the benefits of cutting back on alcohol – or giving up entirely – as they approach their 40s and beyond. Thank you ....To everyone who supported the inaugural Allambee Club Yass - Art Fair! What an incredible event it was. An unexpected and amazing contribution to our May Day Appeal. A special thank you to all the Allambee Club Members for choosing to support women through Karinya House. Read More A warm welcome to The Book Cow - Kingston who recently became a Friend of Karinya. To celebrate, we recently welcomed Peter, owner of The Book Cow and Shelly Unwin (Author) to the Karinya Group. Shelly shared with the women information about her children’s books and the joy and gift of reading to children. A signed copy of Shelly's book "Hello Baby!" was donated to Karinya House. Each woman (12) chose a book for her little family, from the array brought by Peter. The book was theirs to take home with support from The Book Cow. Lunch was provided afterwards as is the way with every weekly Group session. As Group Coordinator Nichola said, "It was a busy yet blissful morning. And there were many happy women!" Our thanks to Shelly and Peter for visiting. We look forward to developing our partnership with The Book Cow! A special word of thanks for the wonderful Canberra Southern Cross Club who are doubling all community rewards through to 30 June 2021. That is 15c for every dollar spent on eligible food and beverages. So link your CSCC membership card to Karinya House (if you haven't already) and support us through this wonderful community engagement program. Thank you CSCC! And thank you to all of you for being part of our Karinya Village. This last message is for anyone who makes their donations directly and only in June. We know there are some of you who prefer to run the "End of Financial Year" decision based on the year that has been. If this is you.. the link to our EOFY Appeal is below. Happy days to all! Stay Warm. Stay Safe. We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri people, and other traditional custodians of the lands upon which we live and work. We pay respect to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land. |