Peter Rose’s experience volunteering with SSI has shown him many of the challenges that refugees and people seeking asylum face as they try to join the workforce in Australia.  Mr Rose said that an obvious reason was their lack of English, but there are others that are not as apparent.

A cooking enthusiast who is seeking asylum in Australia has capitalised on his volunteering experience with SSI to secure a restaurant job. For the past two years, Mostafa has cooked and provided support at Settlement Services International’s (SSI) fortnightly Community Kitchen at the Auburn Centre for Community.

Rediscovering his passion for competitive sport has put a smile back on the face of one young wrestler as he awaits the outcome of his refugee application. Yaser has been wrestling for 10 years, but said he had a tough time finding somewhere to continue his training when he first came to Australia to seek asylum from Iraq in 2013.

Before taking part in the Staples Bag SSI Work for the Dole program, Campsie resident Marcel Tawbeh would never have considered working in retail. “I was shy and lacked confidence, and thought I would only be able to work in the background,” Mr Tawbeh said.

Being a volunteer involves a high level of commitment, but it is thanks to those who can commit that some of the most beautiful causes in the world become possible. Volunteers are usually firm believers in a cause; they are trustworthy, professional and kind-hearted.

Education for people from refugee and migrant backgrounds was the focus of a training event held by the NSW Settlement Partnership (NSP), recently. Loukia Zinopoulos, Settlement Services Manager for Settlement Services International, said the training event was a great opportunity for NSP members to hear how educational institutions could link recent migrants and people from refugee backgrounds to education and training opportunities.

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, past and present, the Gadigal​ people of the Eora​ nation. Ten years ago, Clover Moore, the lord mayor of Sydney, talked at the National Maritime Museum, She said.

This January 26 will hold new significance for Simon Shahin, who will celebrate his first Australia Day since arriving in Sydney as a refugee from Syria last year. An ambitious 22 year old, Mr Shahin has adjusted well to life in Australia. He has made new friends, run a marathon, completed work experience through Youth Collective’s Gateway to Your Future project, and was actively involved in the inaugural Techfugees Australia Hackathon in November.

A group of individuals seeking asylum in Australia have overcome social barriers and developed new community connections following the success of the inaugural Surfing Without Borders program run by Settlement Services International. The program introduced a number of individuals who are seeking asylum to the iconic Australian sport of surfing with regular lessons provided by Let’s Go Surfing, owned and operated by community surfing advocate Brenda Miley.

Discounted food parcels called The Staples Bag have been sold by CoACt/SSI jobactive program participants to help improve access to basic food supplies for people on low incomes. Now the Christmas Staple Bag includes food to help create a special feast for the end of year celebrations.

Youth Collective will address some of the most complex issues facing multicultural youth in the year ahead, with education, language acquisition and youth homelessness to top the agenda in 2016.  Youth Collective is a collaborative initiative between SSI, MRCs and youth organisations.

Home cook Barbara Sweeney and chef Sharon Salloum joined forces on Wednesday, December 2, to prepare an Aussie barbecue at SSI’s Community Kitchen. Barbara is a writer with an interest in food. She contributes stories to Country Style and The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food and curates the food writers’ festival Food & Words. After being approached by SSI’s Community Engagement Team, Barbara accepted the offer straight away and took charge of its organisation.

It has been a busy and exciting year in which SSI and the people we work with have achieved a great deal. SSI’s staff, partners, the communities we work with, our volunteers and supporters should be very proud when we look back and see the positive changes that our work has made.

Refugees and people seeking asylum could soon benefit from a smartphone app that helps to create goals and achievement pathways, thanks to the joint efforts of developers, refugees, the start-up community, and SS!.

A special event at Settlement Services International’s Bankstown offices in November helped support the efforts of the citizens coalition Sydney Alliance to 'Change the Conversation' about asylum seekers.

An innovative project that includes a smartphone app that comes in multiple languages has been launched to support men who have recently arrived in Australia on humanitarian visas. The new app becomes available as Australia prepares to welcome an additional 12,000 refugees who have been affected by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Australia has a proud tradition in volunteerism, as shown by a remarkable 36 per cent of the population aged 18 and over who regularly offer their time to support others, and those who volunteer for SSI are prime examples. The options for aspiring volunteers are endless, although sport, community and education have long maintained their status as the most popular recipients of the volunteering efforts of Australians.

A group of former refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia reached a creative milestone recently when they exhibited images produced during eight weeks of photography workshops with SSI and CuriousWorks.SSI has partnered with CuriousWorks, a media arts company celebrating diversity in multicultural Australia, to facilitate a series of photography and video workshops aimed at developing the creative potential of asylum seekers and refugees in western Sydney.

SSI celebrated International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) today, December 3, with an event at its Bankstown office, featuring Ability Links NSW ambassador Nick Gleeson. IDPwD promotes an understanding of people with disability and encourages support for their dignity, rights and wellbeing.

SSI Housing Services celebrated the end of a busy year with an evening event to thank real estate agents, landlords and community housing providers. The special guests had all worked closely with SSI to help secure affordable accommodation for refugees and people seeking asylum.