Family Wellbeing Day in Wyndham
As part of the Third Family Wellbeing Day, Saturday 16th September 2017 saw Women of Wyndham and Ramon Helps bring together the community, welfare agencies and the local government to raise information around domestic violence. Both Women of Wyndham and Ramon Helps are local grassroots organisation aimed at engaging on a diverse range of community matters. The event set out to inform the attendees about issues and prevention of family violence and to provide a financial literacy workshop to make people more independent. Key note speeches were delivered by Wyndham City’s Deputy Mayor Councillor Kim McAliney and ex-councillor Bob Fairclough. In her speech, Kim outlined the support that is available for family violence victims and the importance of establishing successful familial relationships.
Statistics show that domestic violence has penetrated various levels of our society and there is an increased need to create awareness around its prevention and support. The event plugged that gap by inviting a group of panel members Dr Sonia Singh (Educator), Dr Ree Bodde (Director, Think Prevent), Rohit Maharaj(Barrister), Sudhir Juneja (Community Leader), Mary Lyttle (CEO- Elder Rights Advocacy)to provide their perspective on family violence. The master of the ceremony was Preeti Daga who also doubled up as the panel moderator. Opinions from the panel weighed in around issues of children upbringing, support and ways to prevent family violence. The need to raise a voice against family violence was one of the key take home messages rather than just being a by-stander. Evidence of the issue was also raised through victims and survivors of family violence who have come out fighting. These survivors are testimony to the work of both Women of Wyndham and Ramon Helps and their teams. The panel members also clearly reiterated that it is vital that victims send a clear message that such incidents will not be tolerated. They also suggested that help and counselling should be sought in the first instance.
Various community champions were recognised for their work in the Wyndham community. These champions (NAMES) have all played a crucial role in making Wyndham a strong and resilient community through their work in different areas. A short questionnaire was also distributed amongst the audience to test their financial literacy skills and only 2 participants were able to achieve full marks. This further highlighted the need for financial literacy workshops in the Wyndham community.
This day also celebrated the second anniversary of the MEET program. The MEET program signs up representatives from the community who make themselves available as the first point of contact for family violence victims around Melbourne. These representatives also conduct regular educational and advocacy meetings to promote the safety and wellbeing of children, young people, individuals, families and communities affected by family violence. Like last year, this year also eight people signed up to represent the MEET program. Collectively, the MEET representatives look forward to supporting the safety of family violence victims and importantly for being the go-to point for people needing assistance.
Monica Raizada (Founder- Women of Wyndham) outlined the role that her organisation and its teams have played in resolving 80 cases of family violence. These often silent sufferers have turned to Women of Wyndham and Ramon Helps for access to necessary counselling services, information and resources which have helped to mitigate their problems. In closing, Rakesh Raizada (Founder – Ramon Helps) thanked his team and the community who have helped in promoting messages of peace and support in addressing this often debilitating societal problem.
