Luncheon reconnects locals and services

A hairdresser was on hand to provide free haircuts, a nurse practitioner to provide general health checks and to refer on to further medical services as well as winter clothing and food parcels being available for those in need to acquire.

Yarrawonga Mulwala Community and Learning Centre Executive Officer Julie-Anne Clarke said the Community Luncheon was a great success with 50 plus individuals and service providers coming together to share a meal.

“YMCLC were very proud to partner with Wellways to co-ordinate the lunch, which was the first of its kind in Yarrawonga,” Ms Clarke said.

“Ash from Wellways did a fantastic job coordinating, preparing, and cooking the meal to ensure the event ran on time and on schedule.

“It was truly inspiring to see how many people volunteered and participated in such a wonderful initiative, which hopefully will be the first of many.”

Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub Program Worker Ashleigh Ladgrove from Wellways (a not-for-profit mental health and disability support organisation) said the event was a great success and it was pleasing to see so many community members take part.

“I was extremely pleased with how Friday’s Yarrawonga Reconnect Luncheon went,” Ms Ladgrove said.

“Everyone really rolled up their sleeves to make it a successful event and the support is always appreciated.

“We have been disconnected as a community and as service providers following the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and isolation requirements, so it is important that we look at ways to come together in a safe way to share what we are experiencing so we can consider ways that we can improve our connection to our community and the supports that are needed from a service perspective.

“We have run the event in Numurkah and Yarrawonga and will be hosting the Cobram Reconnect Luncheon on July 22.”

With the event not just focusing on the homeless but also those who have been feeling isolated to reconnect with both fellow members of the community as well as services that are able to assist in their needs, several attendees reached out for further assistance which deemed the event a success and what it set out to do.

“Seventeen people have requested to be contacted for further support following the event,” Ms Ladgrove said.

“Wellways will begin contacting these participants this week to discuss what types of support they are requiring and start working towards participant focused goals which will look different for each person.

“We received an email from a community member who attended on Friday with some great feedback.

“It read: Dear Wellways and everyone that donated their time, thank you for sharing your generosity, your caring natures and all your acts of kindness to make a very heart-warming, special day that gave so many people such a happy afternoon. I could hardly believe how much the day changed my emotions from a little down in the dumps on arrival to when I left the hall full of nice warm feelings- I had such a spring in my step when I arrived home. So, please thank everyone.”

With the Yarrawonga Homeless Project coming together once a month to brainstorm ways in which local organisations can work together to assist those in need and to combat homelessness and isolation in our area, Ms Ladgrove and the Wellways team have several ambitions on what may be done locally to aid.

“What we would love to see is a community centre in Yarrawonga that has a commercial kitchen, room space and potentially even showering facilities so that the community can be better supported on-going,” Ms Ladgrove said.

“We can see this need through the space that Yarrawonga Mulwala Community and Learning Centre is working from and the potential of what they could achieve with a larger and better equipped space.”