VicHealth CEO Todd Harper, South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre manager Sally Regan and Tosh Yabio Kar Kulture Project co-ordinator.By Melissa Meehan
AN INNOVATIVE cultural project run by Dandenong’s South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre has won VicHealth awards totalling $90,000.
The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) awarded the project in two categories, innovation and excellence in health promotion, worth $15,000 and $75,000 respectively.
The project, Kar Kulture, focused on working together, building relationships and breaking down misunderstandings and negative attitudes that lead to discrimination.
The project brought together 20 young people from different cultural backgrounds who shared a passion for cars.
Working as a group they restored a donated second-hand Holden and along the way they overcame initial social distance and unfamiliarity and developed new friendships and understandings.
VicHealth CEO Todd Harper said Kar Kulture was a fantastic project.
“I had the opportunity to visit earlier this year and saw what a truly remarkable project it was,” he said.
“It doesn’t just bridge the gap between different cultures, but with young people and police.”
Local police volunteered their time around a common interest which was terrific.
The awards are given to projects which contribute new health promotion knowledge and evidence; provide a model for changes in the way health promotion is conducted; demonstrate solid partnerships and sustainable funding models, as well as having made a tangible difference in the community.
