BELCONNEN COMMUNITY newsletter A CONNECTED, ACTIVE & STRONG COMMUNITY Issue 2 - 2015 27th April 2015 - July 19th 2015 In this issue... • Farewell Sally Paterson p4 Strathnairn Jewel of the West • Creative Arts for Seniors p6 • BCS Disability Showcase and Open Day p17 Message from the CEO 3 Farewell Sally Paterson 4 Social Bean Volunteer - Jessie 5 Support for Mr Fluffy Homeowners 5 Art and Mindfulness Retreat 7 Get Involved in Belconnen 8 News from our neighbourhood 10 Social@bcs 12 Why the Department of Immigration’s presence in Belconnen Matters 13 gallery@bcs 14 BCS Disability Showcase and Open Day 16 P.A.T.H. Pre Planning for NDIS 17 Strathnairn Arts Centre Open Day 18 Digital Storytelling for Muslim Women 19 Yarn Bombing - a subversive experience 19 Better Services in your Neighbourhood 20 Get on Board the Community Bus 21 Holiday programs for Children and Young People 22 Belconnen Early Childhood Centre Exceeds National Standard 22 Community Calendar 23 A Conversation with Jen Lewis 27 CONTACTS Belconnen Community Service Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen. PO Box 679, Belconnen, ACT 2616. Tel: 6264 0200 Fax: 6253 2901 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bcsact.com.au www.facebook.com/BCSACT FOLLOW@BCSACT Newsletter Editor [email protected] 6264 0205 BELCONNEN COMMUNITY SERVICE INC. ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE OF: The ACT Government • The ACT Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate • The ACT Community Services Directorate • The ACT Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate • The ACT Health Directorate The Australian Commonwealth Government • The Department of Social Services • The Department of Health Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education responses, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). On page sixteen, we invite people living with mental illness and disability to join us for an open day Message from on June 23 and experience some of the programs, activities and supports BCS can offer as an NDIS the CEO provider. Forty years ago, BCS began as a small community organisation providing childcare. Early Education and School Aged Care remain important parts of BCS’s engagement with our community. Early this year, one of our three centres, Belconnen Early Childhood Centre (BECC) which is located in Westfield Belconnen, undertook its assessment and rating against the National Early Years of Learning Framework. The rating received by BECC was Exceeding the National Standard. I congratulate all the BECC educators on this outstanding result. BCS Early Childhood Centres are all currently accepting new enrolments. Another organisation which has been part of the As I read through this issue the theme that emerges Belconnen landscape for decades is Strathnarin Arts is change. Our local landscape, our way of life and Centre. The beautiful front cover image in this issue the community services sector are all evolving and shows the view from the West paddock at Strathnairn. maturing. I have recently joined the Board of Strathnairn and On page four, we farewell Sally Paterson and wish am excited by its potential. BCS will provide a shuttle her well for her retirement. Sally began working at bus transport for their open day on May 27 (see page BCS over 16 years ago. Her passion and vision were 18 for details). I look forward to the two organisations instrumental in the development of BCS’s acclaimed working closely together in the future. suite of community mental health programs including As the days grow shorter and colder, it’s important Open Art and the Leisure Program. These programs to stay connected and to experience the warmth of were developed in response to sweeping national community connection. I hope you enjoy reading mental health reforms hat saw psychiatric wards about the wealth of opportunity and activity available and residential mental health facilities closed across in Belconnen during the coming months. Australia. Now our sector faces another sweeping Dira Horne reform which requires forward thinking and innovative Children from BECC on an excursion to the National Arboretum BELCONNEN COMMUNITY 3 newsletter Issue 2 - April 27th - July 19th 2015 forefront of the social inclusion service models that are now recognised as best practice. The range of activities quickly expanded to include: Day to Day Living, and the Bungee program. Bungee provides a host of youth resilience-building programs, partnering with local Farewell artists, schools, universities, and youth organisations like Warehouse Circus. “A lot of it is about physical and artistic Sally Paterson – expression,” says Sally. “That’s what gives us resilience in our lives – when we challenge ourselves and become A Mental Health Pioneer competent in new things” By Chanel Cole These programs are embedded in the strong BCS community development model. The inclusive programs also helped to raise awareness about mental health and break down barriers to talking about mental illness. “We had the opportunity to educate the community about mental illness, and the community would become a support for our clients. The other benefit that came out of that was people who thought they never had mental health problems started saying ‘hey, I have had feelings like that’, or ‘my brother is going through a really hard time’, and ‘I never thought I could talk to people about it’” In February this year we waved goodbye to our dear In the last couple of years Sally switched to disability work friend and long-serving colleague, Sally Paterson. After in the Bridges and former Castaway Programs. “What I 16 years, five months and two weeks of working at BCS really enjoyed about that, as well as having more face-to- and “running like Forrest Gump” Sally decided it was time face work again, was being able to work with the families to retire. as well,” she says. “It gave me an opportunity to use a Sally joined BCS in 1998, to start up the Leisure Program, more holistic approach in service delivery.” the first community mental health initiative to be run by Sally enjoyed it so much that – even though she’s officially BCS. The Leisure Program has now expanded across retired – she’s still doing a few casual hours a week at the ACT, but Sally says, “It was a very little program at the BCS. But it won’t be for too much longer, because Sally time. The only space available was the store-room next to intends to make the most of her well-earned retirement. the Sports Hall, so I worked from there. I had a very good mentor who employed me” she says. “Sam Moskwa – she “I have a granddaughter who is 11 months old and a huge was the centre director at the time – had a very strong gardening project. My husband and I ride a motorbike vision of the potential for community to embrace people together so we’ll be doing some travelling this year, and living with mental illness.” taking a trip to Europe,” says Sally Sweeping national mental health reforms at that time saw “There are so many things I’m interested in, and I have psychiatric wards and residential mental health facilities time now not to rush around. And that’s nice.” closed across Australia. “Upon the closure of Watson Hostel, we lobbied Mental Health ACT to bring their art worker Lorna Crane, into the community setting and we started the Open Art program. “We felt that if we could bring people with mental illness into a community setting, the community would accept them , even though there was such a strong stigma around it. We knew that we could do it and Belconnen Community Centre was the perfect spot. We decided when we set up our art and fitness classes, that we would open them to the public. It was an unusual approach in that it was integrating the community into the mental health programs, rather than the other way around.” The programs that Sally – working closely with a smart and dedicated team – helped to create, were at the Ian and Sally Paterson riding a road called the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee already know.” Jessie studied hospitality at school and Jessie- later continued her learning through a disability service. She’s proud to achieve her goal of working in a café. Social Jessie’s mother, Penny, works at Belconnen Community Health Centre and approached the café about Bean opportunities for Jessie. She says, “People living with disability are often excluded from lots of aspects of a Volunteer normal life. Working at Social Bean gives Jessie life By skills, a sense of achievement and a more social life.” Simone Samantha says that the fact that Penny just walked into Penkethman the café and was able to secure a volunteer position for her daughter really shows how Social Bean is becoming BCS’s Social Bean part of the community. Café in the Belconnen Community Health Centre serves the dual purpose of providing a welcoming place with healthy food, and a place for young people to get some experience of working in hospitality. Jessie is a young woman with an intellectual disability who has volunteered at Social Bean on Fridays since August 2014. Social Bean manager, Samantha Hughes says, “Friday’s always a busy day so it’s good to have help. Jessie lightens up the place; she has a great sense of humour.” Jessie has learned to take orders, wash dishes and pots, and practice safe food handling. She particularly enjoys the social aspects of the job: “serving food, getting to know the regulars, having a chat and seeing people I Social Bean team left to right: Jessie, Jess, Samantha and Joseph Hundreds more have met with the Taskforce more Greater Support for broadly, with the Taskforce supporting the 1021 homeowners with affected houses in the ACT.