From the CEO – diversity is good for our communities
A month busy with events has reinforced for me the importance of these opportunities that bring diverse people together to share knowledge and experience. Recent events SSI has been involved in included Harmony Day, SSI’s Speakers’ Series discussion on youth and radical ideologies, the Third Sector Expo and the Cultural Diversity and Law Conference.
SSI to provide jobactive employment services
Settlement Services International (SSI) is pleased to announce that the organisation has been successful in tendering for the new $5 billion employment services model, known as jobactive that will replace Job Services Australia from July 1.
Forum explores volunteering and diversity
An SSI case manager joined a diverse panel at the “Volunteering for All - Trends and Tips” forum last month to discuss and explore the positive effects of volunteering. The forum was hosted by NSW peak body The Centre for Volunteering at Customs House, on March 25. SSI case manager Marcela Hart, who was nominated to sit on the panel by colleagues, said the event had a particular focus on building the capacity of the volunteer sector to recognise, respect, manage and support people from diverse backgrounds.
Bodybuilding gives asylum seeker focus
SSI asylum seeker client Behnan credits bodybuilding with giving him something practical to focus on while his claim for refugee status is assessed. Behnan, originally from Iran, has been bodybuilding for 15 years. “I started when I was about 13 years old,” he said via an interpreter. “My brothers were coaches, and because of my height and physical features, they decided bodybuilding was the sport for me.”
OzHarvest CEO CookOff
SSI staff and asylum seeker clients took part in the OzHarvest CEO CookOff, in March. The CookOff is an annual event that brings together celebrity chefs, CEOs and vulnerable Australians to put the spotlight on issues of food security, homelessness and challenges faced by youth in crisis. It’s also a fund-raiser for OzHarvest.
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day was acknowledged and celebrated on March 11, and SSI used the occasion to highlight the strengths, vulnerabilities and specific needs of refugee women. SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said: “Refugee women are survivors, protectors and providers.”
Special group of SSI women visits Blue Mountains
SSI recently took a group of ‘Women at Risk’, and their children, for a day trip to the Blue Mountains. The SSI W@R (Woman at Risk) Committee arranged the excursion for about 30 clients who are deemed “at risk”. The group was a mix of refugee women and women seeking asylum.
Ability links dancer to her passion
Young Joo Byun is multilingual in an unusual way – she speaks Korean and English and also communicates through Korean and Auslan sign language. After a serious illness when six months old, Ms Byun’s mother suspected she had trouble hearing. This suspicion grew when Ms Byun’s younger brother started exceeding her in childhood milestones, and her deafness was confirmed when she was five years old.
Former refugee’s award-winning art donated to sick children
There is still time to visit Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Summer Art Exhibition, featuring the work of award-winning artist Bassam Jabar. The exhibition called Convergence is a collection of art produced specifically for the hospital by members of the Arts West Art Collective, of which Mr Jabar is a member. The Collective is made up of artists from refugee and migrant backgrounds based in western Sydney.
Speakers’ Series explores extremism and how to counter it
A panel of informed speakers has called on authorities to support community groups and to back more academic research in an effort to counter religious extremism in Australia. The current issue of the susceptibility of young people to extremist ideologies was discussed at the SSI Speakers’ Series Radical appeal: young people and religious extremism on March 16.
A former refugee thanks Malcolm Fraser
Much has been said about Malcolm Fraser’s courageous support of refugees, particularly Vietnamese refugees, since his passing on Friday. SSI’s own Thanh Nguyen, Manager Early Intervention & Capacity Building, gives thanks to Mr Fraser for granting him and his family protection in Australia in the 1970s. “He did Vietnamese families, including my own, a huge service,” he said. “He allowed my family to make a life here.”
Housing Affordability Campaign
Sydney Alliance is currently running a Housing Affordability Campaign to highlight how the housing crisis affects Sydney residents. Settlement Services International (SSI) has joined the advocacy campaign to highlight how the crisis is compounded further for asylum seekers and refugees. Language barriers, the lack of rental history and skills to navigate the property market, social isolation, high unemployment and mental and physical health issues combine to make securing housing a problem for refugees and asylum seekers.
Harmony for all through music, dance and food
Recently arrived refugees and asylum seekers from around the world came together with community members for a Harmony Day celebration held by Settlement Services International (SSI).
Art lovers head for the Hills
‘Art in the Hills’ is one of the longest running annual art exhibitions in Sydney. For 44 years, Oakhill College has hosted the exhibition to engage the community by inspiring and developing an appreciation of the arts. This year, the Hills District and beyond, will be inspired by the works of two artists of refugee background, Bassam Jabar and Victor Youssef.
Youth Collective member given Premier’s award
SSI Youth Collective steering committee member Sarah Yahya added another award to her collection of accolades when presented with the Premier’s Multicultural Youth Award last week. Sarah, her mother and sister, came to Australia as refugees from Iraq in 2007. The family had spent seven years in Jordan after fleeing Iraq suddenly in the middle of the night when Sarah’s father was arrested.
Linker helps budding broadcaster overcome his challenges
Waking up to the voices of news broadcasts from three different radios, and sometimes also the television, is an almost daily ritual for Felix Bennett. Some mornings, Mr Bennett hears a sports story that he has submitted and he gets a rush of excitement. “It makes me happy for the day and makes me feel special,” Mr Bennett said about hearing his story on the radio.
Ability Links NSW celebrations roll on
Communities in Wollongong and Parramatta enjoyed free events to celebrate the "official" arrival of the Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) program and to meet their local ‘Linkers’. Both events incorporated great local musicians, inspiring speeches, and fun with selfies, chalk boards, hand print signs and henna.
Refugees make art to support Children’s Hospital
Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation’s first of four “seasonal” exhibitions, the Summer Art Exhibition, features work by the Arts West collective of artists that includes former refugee Bassam Jabar. The hospital’s Foundation Art Program provides opportunities for young creative talent and supports the recovery of patients, some of whom spend many months in hospital.
Organisations unite to support asylum seekers
SSI hosted a morning tea on February 3, to bring together the four NSW service providers delivering the Federal Government’s Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS) program, which supports people seeking asylum in Australia. The four providers were selected by the government following a tender process in 2014.
Community Cup to highlight work of charities
The Youth Collective, a new SSI initiative to focus on the needs of multicultural youth and young people from refugee backgrounds, will participate in the inaugural Reid Community Cup. The event on Sunday, March 15, at Timbrell Park, Five Dock, will bring together eight local charities for a one-day, five-a-side soccer tournament.