Season's Greetings and News from the House.... No images? Click here Karinya News - December 2023Dear Friends of KarinyaWelcome rains to end Spring, as Summer gets underway ... A word from our CEO: It is hard to believe that the festive season and year end is almost upon us. While the team are busy preparing gifts and special events for women we walk alongside – it is also a time to pause and reflect on the year that has been. The end of year is always a busy time at Karinya House, as we support over 40 women and their children and babies during the festive season. The last month has also seen several women move out of Karinya House into independent housing. While moving out is a bittersweet moment for women and our staff, we take great pleasure in seeing a woman take the next step in her journey. One woman sent us a proud photo of herself outside her new home and said “Karinya is the family I never had”. Having spent most of my career overseas prior to Karinya House, I have been humbled by the strength of the Canberra village that surrounds Karinya House. I have seen this village in action over the last six-months. From our dedicated staff and volunteers, through to the individual, government, corporate and community partners that donate to or fund Karinya House. From connecting a woman’s television in her new house, to donating festive hampers or books for our new library, to dressing up as “Santa” for the women’s festive party – I see these acts of recognition and respect from our staff, volunteers and supporters every day at Karinya House. For this, I would like to personally thank you for your support to Karinya House and the women we walk alongside throughout 2023. I wish you a safe and restful festive break, and we look forward to seeing you again as part of our village in 2024. Lavinia Lavinia Tyrrel - CEO, Karinya House A Christmas Story ...One of our team, Sarah, had cause recently to reflect on why she works at Karinya House. Sarah has been with Karinya since 15 December 2003, about to celebrate 20 Years of service for women, with our sincere gratitude! This is her Christmas Story ..… Waking up that morning I was a bundle of nerves with a healthy dose of excitement thrown in. I was doing my first shift at Karinya House, a supported accommodation facility for women, pregnant or parenting, impacted by homelessness. Up until a couple of months prior to this day I wasn’t even aware there was a need for this, let alone a waiting list......... Valued VolunteersWithout our Volunteers, Karinya House simply would As a little thank you to these wonderful humans, Lavinia Tyrrel, CEO and Nichola McKillop, Caseworker and Volunteer Coordinator, hosted a morning tea on a beautiful November day. The gathering was a lovely chance for staff to thank volunteers for the invaluable hours of time they donate to Karinya House each year. For the 2022/23 Financial year, volunteers (Committee and service support) together with unpaid hours given by staff, contributed over 3,000 volunteer hours; valued conservatively at $180,000. Since Karinya's inception over 127,700 volunteer hours have been provided, valued at over $5m. Wrapped in Love - 2023 Christmas AppealIn our October eNewsletter we invited interest from members of the Karinya Village to be partnered with and prepare gift hampers for each of the women we are currently walking alongside. Within a very short space of time, we had every woman partnered by someone! The Karinya elves, Millie and Tino, our fabulous casework navigators, coordinated with each partner offer, to ensure each hamper matched with the circumstance of each woman. As the days pass, beautifully prepared and thoughtfully acquired gift hampers are now being delivered to us here at Karinya. The practice of care we hold so dearly at Karinya is evident across our village. Thank you. If the festive season is a time when you choose to make your donation to your charity of choice, the Karinya Christmas Appeal is open. There is also an eCard available to print if the donation is a gift in lieu of presents for family and friends. Congratulations Paddywack!Bill Slocum and the team at Paddywack Promotional Products have been supporting Karinya as a financial corporate partner since December 2002. Over the years, additional pro-bono support has been provided with various Karinya branded banners and items. Bill and the team are currently celebrating 30 years of service to the Canberra region. We congratulate Bill, Pam their daughter Alison and the rest of the Paddywack team, for this amazing milestone in business. We acknowledge with gratitude the financial and in-kind support provided to Karinya House over the years. Simply tremendous! 🙌🏾👏🏾💫 *Image is the wonderful media wall donated to Karinya by Paddywack for our 25th Anniversary celebrations in 2022. Snippets....Wednesday 15 November saw a special event at Karinya House, the opening of our Lil’ Village Library. We sang songs, did some craft, ate a delicious lunch, and of course, read a book, all in the name of literacy! The library was organised and launched by Marike Jago, Residential Support Coordinator, and is a resource for residents and their families to use while they are living at Karinya House. The library is a repurposed fridge, with artwork design by residents, lovingly painted by residents and staff, and stocked with a beautiful selection of donated books, in pristine condition! At the opening, Marike spoke about the importance of reading for babies and young children’s development. This simple act, done each day, can help to grow brains, develop language and vocabulary, provide information about the world around them, develop a lifelong love of reading and create stronger bonds between parent and child. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this special occasion. ********************* A note received from a woman we are walking alongside, "Thank you everyone so much for all the kindness and support during this time. It means the absolute world to me. I've never had a lot of support but Karinya has been amazing. Thank you all. Lots of love from me and my girls." ********************* A message recently received from a woman we walked alongside some years ago... "Hello Cath! I hope you and the team are well! I just wanted to give you a much-needed update! We just bought a house!!! Officially a homeowner! And I also finished my diploma of community services. I truly don't think I would be the woman and mother that I am today without the help and incredible support I received while living at Karinya House. I have such an incredible little family and I'm so happy! All the best xx" #humansofkarinya We give thanks ....To everyone who are Members of the Canberra Southern Cross Club and who have linked their membership card to Karinya House. Through the Club's fabulous Community Rewards Program, and your membership card link, each quarter, we receive a significant financial donation. The first quarter donation came in November. It was a great boost! If you are a member of the Club and yet to link your card, you can link your membership card to Karinya via this link. Parbery - Watch this space for the announcement of a wonderful new corporate partnership with the team at Parbery. A warm welcome to Alison Burr who recently joined the Karinya team. Alison brings new eyes and more specialised skill to Partnerships and Events focusing on Karinya's critical corporate and community funding platform. We guarantee you will enjoy coming to know Alison as we have. If you would like to be part of the village supporting women in our community, with us, do consider joining our village via our website with a recurring financial donation of any amount at intervals to suit you. We currently have around 250 recurring donors ❣️💫 We thank each and every one of you! We are aiming to get to a 1,000 strong Karinya donor village. #supportingwomen #standingalongside #ourvillage #ourcommunity Karinya House is committed to reconciliation. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay respects to Elders past, present and future. Sovereignty has never been ceded. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land. |