On Tuesday March 14, the NCQ team had the privilege of visiting the Redland Community Centre and meeting with Allison Wicks, the Centre’s CEO. Redland Community Centre is a place that “runs on kindness” and their committed team works tirelessly to support their most vulnerable and marginalised community members with inclusive programs, including those designed for people in crisis.
The Centre offers a range of supports including emergency relief packages and supplies to people experiencing homelessness and those burdened by the rising cost-of-living crisis; NILS financial loans, domestic and family violence support, crisis and generalist counselling, financial counselling, wellbeing workshops and service navigation support. These diverse supports are crucial in a region where 47% of those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity have come from situations of domestic and family violence.
Allison Wicks highlighted the commitment of Redland Community Centre to continue to deliver their vital programs, particularly as funding was unexpectedly cut for two of their primary programs. Despite facing such a significant loss, the Centre still manages to continue running these vital programs with the support of the local community chipping in to keep the programs afloat.
One of the vital programs which lost funding is their Homelessness United (HU) program. Homelessness United is an initiative that began with the centre providing case management, housing solutions and daily cooked dinners for people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. The program quickly grew to a collaboration of allied services and wrap around supports, including Street Doctor, Centrelink, Housing, QuIHN, Births Deaths and Marriages, job search agencies and RTO’s. Today the program has been unfunded for nearly 2 years, but still manages to provide people with case management, housing solutions, referrals, a friendly environment, homely and nutritious meals that support the community both physically and psychologically.
Redland Community Centre also extends their services beyond their local area, visiting the Bay Islands (SMBI) every fortnight, pulling together a collaborative Hub offering emergency relief, Homeless Untied, Financial Literacy, Financial Counselling, Service Navigation (Disasters) and allied services from NDIS, Carefinders, Bayside Legal and the Hope Centre providing a monthly FREE community meal.
To learn more about Redland Community Centre visit: https://redlandcommunitycentre.org/
Published: March 2023
Written By: Taylor Bast