A new service has been launched in the Wimmera Southern Mallee to help the local Karen community to easily access aged and disability support.
Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM) Development has teamed with Comfort Care Community Services (CCCS) of Werribee, to deliver and connect Karen families to the best possible individual support.
A multicultural community service provider, CCCS has a team of Karen carers to support the aged and those with a disability with showering and personal care and assistance with tasks like shopping and housework.
The initiative also involves Grampians Community Health (GCH) and West Wimmera Health Service (WWHS), enabling CCCS staff to also connect Karen clients with counselling services and health care.
WSM Development’s Migration and Settlement Program Manager, Sara Barron said GCH and WWHS had supported multicultural communities in the region for many years, but cultural and language barriers had been a significant problem.
“It’s been difficult for families with English as a second language to understand what aged and disability support services are available to them because of these barriers,” explained Ms Barron.
“This often means they miss out on services because they don’t understand what’s available or feel unable to communicate their real needs. We are confident that this ground-breaking partnership will greatly improve access the quality of life for Karen and other multicultural community members who may be suffering in silence.”
Director of CCCS, Maung Hnin said her team understood the difficulties Karen families had experienced trying to access the right services for their loved ones.
“We have years of experience supporting clients from different cultural backgrounds and training our staff to provide culturally responsive services,” she said. “We look forward to being about to extend our services to regional Victoria and be part of this new program.”
Another exciting element to the new partnership, said Sara Barron, was the opportunity for Karen residents from across the region to train as personal carers to be part of the CCCS team.
“WSM Development and Federation University have partnered to deliver free training in the care industry over the next two years and a Certificate III in Individual Support course will start on October 17,” said Ms Barron. “We see a powerful opportunity for Karen locals to take part in this training and we will do what we can to support them through the course, including translation services, access to a laptop and assistance with travel.”
WSM Development Chief Executive Officer Chris Sounness said the partnership between his organisation, Comfort Care, Grampians Community Health and West Wimmera Health Service would help grow regional capability and capacity to support vulnerable multicultural communities.
“And to be able to provide culturally sensitive training and placements for students with English as a second language will be critical to growing and diversifying our local workforce,” said Mr Sounness.
“Ultimately, we want to see our valued Karen families getting the support they need and for a wave of qualified Karen carers filling an undesirable gap in the care workforce in the near future.”
For further information about accessing care or becoming a trained carer, please contact Ms Barron on 0418 964 050 or sara.barron@wsm.org.au
Media enquiries: Beth Gibson, WSM Development, 0437 816 505