Royal Children's Hospital & Eastern Volunteers

Sunday, March 16, 2014 – 9:15 a.m. Queenscliff time

By Teressa Jackson

It has been another whirlwind of a week, and so I am behind on blogging again. Monday was Labour Day, and we had the hard work (ha!) of visiting the historic homestead of Mont de Lancey in Wandin, learning about the early settlers and strolling the garden; tasting wines at Chandon, a division of Moet; and settling into an extensive late lunch (although they all seem a bit late here to me) at the amazing home of Mike's hosts Warwick and Paulette. After that, we were all in a food coma and useless for the rest of the day. 

On Tuesday, we were back to the grind. We set off back for the city first thing in the morning to visit the Royal Children’s Hospital. They have some amazing facilities! Although their medical services are funded by the government-run healthcare system, all the “extras” are not. They have a “Good Friday” appeal each year that raises substantial funds, and in total they raise around $40 million in charitable support each year.

Royal Children’s has placed a big emphasis on ensuring its facilities are not institutional in feel or approach. They have a bean bag movie theater complete with medical hookups if a child needs them while away from their room, that shows the latest kids’ films twice a day. A meerkat exhibit (yes, with real meerkats) keeps kids in the outpatient area engaged and, let’s face it, distracted. There is a two-story saltwater aquarium and large sculpture (for climbing) in the central main lobby. A craft and entertainment area is available for activities, and while in that area we saw two doctors dressed in silly attire headed out to provide some fun. It was an amazing place.

Next we headed to the banks of the Yarra River where we enjoyed a barbecue lunch and celebrated Kelsie's 25th birthday, despite a bit of rain. After lunch, we had a few extra moments, so we strolled through a bit of the botanic gardens for those of us who hadn’t had a chance to enjoy them. Then we were off again!

 

Our next stop was at the offices of Eastern Volunteers, where we learned about their services to help the community and local not-for-profits by engaging volunteers in a variety of capacities. Much like Metro United Way at home, and Karingal in Geelong, they provide ways for volunteers to learn about the needs of not-for-profits and connect with them. Additionally, they have an infrastructure through which they organize volunteers to provide transportation for people with disabilities and others in need. The Rotary Club of Ringwood has provided a van to assist with this service.

View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.

A "Happy Home" at Karingal

Sunday, March 9, 2014 – 1:15 p.m. Victoria time (in a train to Wandin)

By Teressa Jackson

Last Thursday, my host Warren was kind enough to drive me over an hour west to the city of Geelong for the day, where I visited Karingal, whose name means “happy home”. Much like where I work, Karingal was founded in 1952 by parents of children with disabilities. They have experienced incredible growth in the past fifteen years, going from a $3.5 million annual budget to a budget of around $80 million through mergers and growth in programming. Their service area is now “interstate” (multi-state).

I first met with Robyn, who gave me an overview of the agency’s many service lines. Like many of the disability service organizations we have visited, and very unlike most similar organizations in the U.S., Karingal’s employment placement program runs a surplus that they use to further their other services for people with all types of disabilities, the elderly, and other populations, some of which include:

• Kommercial – Hospitality, land care, packaging, and catering services conducted in a variety of on-site “social enterprise model” setups
• Youth services – Targeted to kids at risk who drop out of school
• Individual supports – Respite, personal care, work-based support, note taking assistance
• Aged care – Includes a service for individuals in distress where they are required to “buzz in” each day to ensure their safety
• Participate – A day program providing accredited training, adventure-based learning focused on pre-employment skills, volunteer work, literacy training, and other supports
• Karingallery – Run by an artist and showing art by people with disabilities and other community artists
• Transcend – Mental health respite, outreach, personal helpers, and mentors
• Accommodation – Shared living housing, primarily for individuals with intellectual disabilities (4 to 8 individuals per home, 24-hour support – staff are allowed to sleep in all homes except one)
• “My Own Place” – A program that helps people find a place for more independent accommodations
• ARC Support – For people with acquired brain injury including community education, family support networks, and a drop-in center (board funded) 

Like the organization where I work, Karingal is ISO 9001:2008 certified, and is also accredited by Disability Services Victoria. Like many other not-for-profits I’ve visited, they first and foremost look for staff with skills in the program area and then provide disability support training.

Next, Tracy gave me an overview of BacLinks, which provides links between business and the community. Much in the way that our local Metro United Way does, this service arm connects businesses and other groups with community not-for-profits in need of volunteer support. The program runs at a significant deficit and Karingal sees it as their “gift to the community.” The model was devised in working with federally-funded consultants. Businesses pay a membership fee that provides them with support and access to four business breakfasts each year. They also pay a fee for projects supported by BacLinks. These fees allow the agency to provide support in the form of risk assessment, project agreements including roles and responsibilities, assessment of need for insurance, event registration, photos, evaluation, and more.

Karingal’s Foundation director gave me a lift to one of their other sites in the community. She was in much the same situation I was three years ago. Hired just six months ago, she is facing a capital campaign to raise $2 million of a $6 million goal to build a new building at the site I was visiting, which will be a community center geared toward inclusion of people with disabilities in community life. It will include a coffee shop (I told you they like their coffee here!), conference space, art rooms, and much more.

The director at the community center, Lee, took me to a lovely lunch and then we visited several of Karingal’s other sites and programs. Karingallery was a beautiful space with some wonderful works that were very professionally presented. They have a show five times a year and this is always in mind as a goal. Additionally, they rent gallery space to other artists in the community to help bring people in to the space and generate funds. Most people come to the art program a half day to two days per week. Most of their sites were centrally located to facilitate integration of participants into the community. I really enjoyed meeting their staff and participants, and going at what felt like a slower pace than the hustle and bustle of Melbourne. 

View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.