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Karinya News - April 2026
Dear Friends of Karinya
The colours, the warmth of the sun and the big blue-sky days of Autumn continue, with the hint of winter chill to come.
During April, we welcomed back our wonderful CEO, Lavinia, from her three-month sabbatical, which provided her with time for reflection and refreshment. We extend our gratitude to the Centre for Social Impact, for funding this opportunity for renewal, and providing the opportunity for members of the team to lead the work and service of Karinya.
During this period, our equally amazing Strategy and Funding Director, Ellen and Services Director Catherine, joined forces as Acting Co-CEOs and led the Karinya team through these initial months of 2026. We thank Ellen and Catherine for their commitment and collaboration, and we also commend other members of the Karinya team who stepped up during this period. More updates on the Karinya Team are in the section below.
As many of you know, the month of May, which has quickly come upon us, is one of two significant months here at Karinya House. The other month is September, our anniversary month.
May is of course the month during which we recognise both Mother's Day and Bereaved Mother's Day. (We do also recognise Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day, which occurs in October.) There are many other days of recognition within the month of May, applicable to the services of Karinya House. The Home. Hope. Horizon. Charity Appeal launches tomorrow and is an appeal which many of our donors choose as part of their annual support for women through Karinya House. The link to the appeal is below. If you are currently not a financial donor, this appeal may be one for you also.
The corresponding Home. Hope. Horizon. Charity Luncheon is being held on 22 May 2026, featuring the generous and inspiring, Heidi Prowse OAM. We thank Parker Coles Curtis, our valued Principal Partner, and all Associate, Support and Small Business Partners, as well as many across the Karinya and Canberra community who are supporting this event. There are a few tickets available for late interest. More information is available via the link below. Ticket sales close 8th May 2026.
As always, we hope you enjoy reading about the recent events outlined below and thank you for being part of the Karinya Village community.
Please note references to events or appeals below are for the information of all our Friends. If you are an existing donor of Karinya House, be assured we value the current extent of your financial support, and no additional support from current donors is being sought through the sharing of this news, other than asking you to consider sharing this eNews with friends or family if it may be of interest to them.
The Karinya Team
Earlier in April, we bid farewell to the wonderful Nichola, Senior Caseworker. Nichola and her family have returned to Queensland, where Nichola grew up and we sent our very good wishes with her as she headed off to the sun and warmth. Nichola has been with Karinya since December 2014, starting as a Maternal Support Worker (overnight and weekend shifts). Nichola was appointed as a Caseworker in May 2016, and as Senior Caseworker in March 2024. Nichola was impacted by, and conversely impacted, the lives of hundreds of women (and their babies and children), whose life journey she shared throughout this time. As Services Director, Cath, stated at the farewell lunch, "
"Nichola, I know I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we all feel like we have been blessed to know you, have been honoured to see you change so many women’s lives and have been cheered by your humour, happiness and kindness. We love you and will miss you."
As is the way of team changes, we firstly, congratulate Imogen, who has been appointed to the Senior Caseworker role, following an internal recruitment process. We are also thankful to welcome two new caseworkers to the Karinya Care Team, Bianca and Tania, together with Harper, who has joined us as a Maternal Support Worker.
2026 Committee Planning Day
The Karinya Committee and Executive Leadership Team spent the day together on 29th April 2026, hosted with thanks by the Canberra Southern Cross Club.
The 2026 Planning Day was excellently directed by Shelley Thompson (Patient Experience Agency) and Chris Nightingale (Ponda Consulting) under their usual and generous pro-bono terms, and included a focus on:
- Current and future organisation and community sector context.
- Trauma-transformative Practice.
- Measuring success and progress (in view of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan) including the impact of the Future Generation impact funding, what matters most to our funders and what matters most to the Committee.
- Strategic approaches to risk.
As you can see it was a comprehensive day and provided great insight, thought and discussion.
We also welcomed to this planning day four newly appointed committee members. We are pleased, and very thankful, to welcome Jo Farrell, Judy Cole, Kathleen Buckley and Tom Corkhill to the Karinya Committee, some who you may recognise. Each new member brings new knowledge and professional expertise to the organisation.
We will be updating our website soon, so you may read more about our new members.
Snippets....
A few snippets from the women we have walking alongside in recent times.
"What a relief it has been to ask for help. Put it off for months!! Was too embarrassed and also felt a lot of shame. You have taken a massive load of stress and being completely overwhelmed away. Feel like I'm not so heavy and can breathe again. Can't thank you enough."
"Karinya was amazing. They listened when I needed them. They were so caring and compassionate. The only ones who didn't judge me."
"You change a person by believing in them and Karinya believed in me. Karinya has a magic wand - they just make life better. It is amazing there are people who want to look after families they don't even know."
#humansofkarinya #walkingalongsidewomen
Thank You!
For your interest in the happenings at Karinya House, and for your support. We look forward to sharing a bit more news from the House sometime in May.
#supportingwomen #standingalongside #ourvillage #ourcommunity #budofhope
Karinya House is committed to reconciliation. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay respects to Elders past, present and future. In this recognition, we acknowledge the never-ending connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People have to land, water and sky.
