By CASEY NEILL
WELLSPRINGS for Women welcomes more than 200 people through its doors each week.
The Dandenong organisation’s manager Veronica Hassett said many of the people it dealt with were new to Australia.
“If they don’t connect, they’re going to isolate themselves,” she said.
“When they come to a new country, the first thing they’ll be told is they’ve got to get their kids into school, they’ve got to find work, you’ve got to get a house – without the connections.
“Wellsprings provides them the place to gather and then we gradually connect them to forums and programs and special events.”
Art therapist Holly Gordon has worked on Wellsprings’ Creative Connections Through Craft project for almost three years.
She said it was a soft starting point for women to access further education through Wellsprings and other organisations.
The group meets for more than two hours each Monday to work on stencils, painting, embroidery and more.
“Craft’s a really positive activity for them,” Ms Gordon said.
She said some participants had gone on to complete certificate courses and run market stalls.
A child support worker joins the group to look after participants’ children so they can focus on their project.
Ms Hassett said the Creative Connections Through Craft each week joined with the long-running Crafty Connections group for women with special needs.
“They all come together so they’re making stitches together,” she said.
“They’ve knitted apples and halal bread and bananas and fruits to give to the kids, and it was a sign of welcoming.
“Together they’ve learnt each other’s stitches.
“They’re learning to speak English together – where did you get your thread from? How do you make this outfit?
“That’s how women learn.”
Up to 50 women and 30 pre-school aged children participate in the Wellsprings Learning to Live in Australia program each week.
“Understanding the Australian education system is very hard for them,” Ms Hassett said.
“Some of them have never been to school in their own country or they’re illiterate in their own language.
“Coming to Australia, we automatically get them to fill out forms and enrol their children in school or Medicare forms etcetera and it alienates them even more, so isolation starts all over again.”
Ms Hassett said the program covered the basics of learning to live in a new country – from filling out forms to seeing a doctor and getting school uniforms.
Wellsprings heard from schools that some of their parents culturally didn’t understand how education worked.
“So we took that program into Dandenong South Primary School to connect mothers,” Ms Hassett said.
“Through that they are actually learning to articulate and speak English.”
Wellsprings also provides one-on-one support to new arrivals, runs a Home Visitation Program, runs English classes and employs staff from different ethnic backgrounds.
“We model what we see in society, which, I think, is really important as well,” Ms Hassett said.
