2012 Christmas Appeal
As you and your family, friends and colleagues gather around
each other this Christmas, please take a moment to remember
the many people in our communities who do not have a place
to call home or a family to be with, are struggling financially,
are living in isolation and alone or experiencing social exclusion.
CatholicCare Sydney staff offers in excess of 100,000 occasions
of service and supports each year to help and guide children,
families, young adults, the elderly, individuals and groups to be
valued members and contributors to society. Everyone deserves
a chance to be the best they can be.
Please help us work together to build a society for the common
good by giving generously to our Christmas Appeal. Your donation,
large or small, will make a world of difference all year round.
May you and your family, friends and colleagues experience a
Happy, Safe and Holy Christmas and may 2013 bring peace,
happiness and goodwill to all.
Bernard Boerma, Chief Executive Officer
Donations to CatholicCare Sydney are tax deductible.
DONATE ONLINE
DONATE BY PHONE 02 9390 5377
EMAIL fundraise@catholiccare.org
Allawah House Crisis Accommodation
Young people become homeless for many reasons, including family breakdown, family and domestic violence, unemployment, mental health issues and drug and alcohol abuse. The availability of accommodation is often the most critical factor in a women’s decision to leave abusive or violent relationships.
Every year CatholicCare Sydney staff receives more than 1000 requests from young women aged under 25 years for emergency accommodation.
Allawah House provides a safe and stable residential environment for young women to sit down, stay here and rest awhile.
DONATE ONLINE
DONATE BY PHONE 02 9390 5377
EMAIL fundraise@catholiccare.org
ABOUT ALLAWAH HOUSE
Donations to CatholicCare Sydney are tax deductible.
CatholicCare welcomes proposed child protection reforms
CatholicCare Sydney welcomes moves to improve child welfare in NSW through the release of a discussion paper on Child Protection Legislative and Policy Reforms. The paper, released by the Minister for Community Services and Women, proposes a number of reforms to child protection, including reducing the number of children in care, improving services, and strengthening and speeding up adoption as an option over long-term foster care.
CatholicCare Family, Children and Youth Services Director, Maureen Eagles, said "The discussion paper's focus on family preservation is important. CatholicCare operates on the basis of supporting the best planning and decision-making around permanency for children and whenever possible, family restoration should be the first aim. Where that fails, a more streamlined adoption process is being proposed so children do not remain in long-term foster care".
CatholicCare Sydney is one of only three accredited agencies that provide adoption services in NSW. Assistant Director of CatholicCare's Family, Children and Youth Services, Pam Zemanek, was part of an advisory group that helped shape the proposed legislative improvements.
CatholicCare Sydney acknowledges that changes to legislation will have wide-ranging implications and is calling on everyone with an interest in the child protection sector to provide feedback.
"Many children, young people, parents and carers will be affected by the legislation, and it's important that their voices are heard," said Ms Eagles. "It's critical that these groups actively participate in, and comment on, the discussion paper."
CatholicCare Sydney CEO, Bernard Boerma, said "Every child has the right to be safe, protected and nurtured in order to reach their full potential. CatholicCare welcomes efforts by the minister to lead change and remains steadfast in its commitment to improve outcomes for all children in need".
CatholicCare and Catholic clubs plan to halt problem gambling
A $1 million commitment by Sydney’s Catholic clubs to a CatholicCare gambling support program will be a “proactive, rather than reactive” approach to problem gambling.
The GAINS program – gambling awareness, intervention and support - will cost the four clubs (Dooleys, Liverpool Catholic Club, Campbelltown Catholic Club and Club Central Hurstville and Menai), $1 million across five years. The program will include staff training across the four clubs, the training of club champions of the project to assist patrons access services, and expansion for direct referrals from clubs to local services. It will be supported within CatholicCare by the highly regarded Holyoake Program, which assists families affected by problematic alcohol, other drug and gambling programs.
“We know that problem gambling not only impacts the person with the problem, but also has serious impacts upon family members and the broader society,” said Bernard Boerma, CEO of CatholicCare Sydney. “This initiative between the Catholic Clubs and CatholicCare is a positive project in working together to raise awareness and assist people who are impacted by problem gambling.”
Holyoake manager Sean Panambalana said: “This initiative aims to promote informed and responsible action in order to reduce harm to individuals and families. What we learn at each stage will help inform further development of the project over the five years.”
Environmental Policy Statement
CatholicCare Sydney has a duty to care for and conseve the earth’s resources, as a steward rather than as a consumer. CatholicCare Sydney works for the integrity of creation in ways which assist all people in our community to have equity and access to a greater share of the earth’s resources by encouraging environmental sustainability and respect for the environment. We will strive to achieve this by reducing our impact on the environment where possible and influencing other organisations to do the same. More