Settlement Services International today held its first Annual General Meeting under the new structure of Company Limited by Guarantee. Another first for the organisation, the AGM was held at its recently opened office in Bankstown.

Settlement Services International has celebrated its 15th Anniversary in the company of members, founders, friends and partners, who enjoyed food, music, dancing, speeches and an anniversary video at SSI’s Bankstown auditorium on November 18.

The Open Adoption and Multicultural Communities practice forum, held on Thursday November 12, brought together leading out-of-home care practitioners and NGOs to discuss challenges and considerations of open adoption with regard to migrant and refugee communities.

Sourcing the skills and experience to step into the Australian workforce can be a struggle for many people from CALD backgrounds but SSI’s Youth Collective initiative has been helping to break down barriers for young people with a series of new projects.

“Just be yourself” are the words that finally set Elizabeth Corrigan on the path to securing employment after 20 years out of the workforce. Miss Corrigan was participating in the CoAct/SSI jobactive Community Kitchen Work for the Dole (WFD) program in Marrickville when she received a call inviting her for a job interview.

Some of you may have heard about Maria Sorki, an SSI Ignite Small Business Start-ups client, who fled persecution in Iran and came to Australia as a refugee. Maria made a documentary film about the ancient religious minority, the Zoroastrians in Iran and it was the reaction to this film which meant she had to leave.

SSI welcomed and thanked the Vietnamese Students Association (VSA) last month, whose members came along to personally donate $12,000 they raised for children supported by SSI’s Multicultural Foster Care Service (MFCS).

Imagine that the world around you becomes quiet. Imagine that as you grow older, simple day-to-day habits, such as talking on the phone, become a struggle. This is what happened to Manly resident Kim Roth, a 62-year-old art teacher, who at the age of 45 developed severe hearing loss.

People bustling along ANZAC shopping mall in Campsie on a Thursday in October enjoyed an inspiring showcase offered by SSI’s Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) program, which supports people with disability, their families and carers. Ability Links coordinators, called Linkers, hosted the event as a way to speak with the Campsie community about what ALNSW can do for them.

Language is an important element of any culture, and being able to speak the local language can make the difference between participating in a new community, or isolation. With this is mind, SSI has offered regular English classes for people seeking asylum.  All participants in the English classes were people who received case management support from SSI’s Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) program.

The Friendship Garden in Auburn has blossomed recently thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of former refugees and people seeking asylum, who are supported by Settlement Services International (SSI). Participants have volunteered to nurture the garden with others in the community.

People who attended SSI’s Community Kitchen on October 7, might be surprised to learn of the mixed heritage of the delicious biryani they enjoyed. The traditional Indian dish has a Farsi name and it was cooked on the day by a volunteer Iraqi chef. But for Khalid, the cook who arrived in Australia seeking asylum one and a half years ago, this mix of cultures and food is not something new.

SSI’s Youth Collective program launched the 20 Voices project on October 2, with a dedicated employment forum to help multicultural youth develop skills for the workforce. Designed to promote discussion on employment issues affecting young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, the 20 Voices Youth Employment Symposium featured a series of presentations and skills workshops to help prepare young people for careers.

SSI’s second partnership with CuriousWorks, an arts company that celebrates Australia’s diversity through storytelling, is a photography workshop for people from refugee backgrounds, or who are and seeking asylum.

As part of the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2015 My Story project, SSI has organised a series of workshops to support the voices of young people from refugee backgrounds.My Story aims to document the changing face of children in Greater Western Sydney, one of Sydney’s biggest and most diverse regions. Sydney Writers’ Festival is looking for stories about the everyday lives of children aged 5 to 18.

Food insecurity is a growing concern for many in the community who are struggling with the rising costs of living. To improve access to basic supplies and help address issues of food security in Sydney, SSI, as a member of CoAct, has launched The Staples Bag which includes an array of food provisions for those in need.

Art scattered throughout a Newcastle church was an unusual site for many of the guests at the opening of the Home: between here and there exhibition on Friday September 18.Coming from countries where practicing both religion and art can be a crime, the four Home exhibition artists who travelled from Sydney to participate in the event were thrilled to see the reception to their art.

When asked what the best thing about being a foster carer is, Lin* replied, “You can’t buy the joy and happiness that Dylan* brings me.” Lin is one of 80 foster carers supported by Settlement Services International's Multicultural Foster Care Service (MFCS) celebrating Foster Care Week, September 13-19.

Settlement organisations in NSW welcome the Federal Government’s announcement today that an additional 12,000 refugees from Syria will be settled in Australia and that $44 million in additional financial aid will be provided to help deal with the crisis.

Settlement organisations in NSW welcome the Federal Government’s announcement today that an additional 12,000 refugees from Syria will be settled in Australia and that $44 million in additional financial aid will be provided to help deal with the crisis.