Where would we be without our supportive community sometimes appearing in the form of the Easter Bunny dropping off bags full of easter eggs.
Our young people were thrilled to bits and we were over the moon by the generosity of Zac Marsh and family of Watts Electrical. Thank you for digging deep and donating all these wonderful Easter goodies. It doesn’t get much better than this!
It is the kindness of community, families, businesses and individuals that make the lives of children and young people who have not had the best start in life a little bit better.
We thank Zac and his family, especially these two gorgeous girls for their beautiful gesture.
10 October 2020 marks World Homelessness Day and World Mental Health Day/Week and we have Anti-Poverty Week in October too. All of these issues are interrelated and need to be addressed holistically. There are strong links between homelessness, inadequate education, unemployment and mental illness.
Homelessness and mental health
The Down and Out Report in 1998 found:
46% of the women were affected by schizophrenia
23% of the males were affected by schizophrenia
33% had serious mood disorders
38% of the women had experienced a major depressive disorder
The Burdekin Association has developed a range of distinct but interrelated programs.
Our experience
The top five reasons for presenting to our Youth Housing Program:
Relationship and family breakdown
Current issue with housing (eviction/lease ending/affordability)
Mental health
Financial difficulties
Lack of family/community support
What we do
The Burdekin Association provides support and accommodation options to children and young people (12-24) and their families in the Northern and Inner West areas of Sydney.
We provide an accommodation, care and support continuum that is responsive to the individual needs of a diverse range of young people aged 12-24 years and their families.
This has involved putting together a range of flexible and innovative programs. This flexible approach, combined with the individual nature of service provision, trauma informed practice, a commitment to creative solutions and appropriate expectations enhances the ability to work with more children and young people.
We acknowledge the Aboriginal people of the Cadigal and Gayamaygal Clans. We acknowledge the Country on which we live, work, and gather as being Aboriginal land.
We acknowledge the lands, waterways and skies that are connected to Aboriginal people. We honour them and pay our deepest respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
We respect their rightful place within our communities, and we value their ancient cultural knowledge and practices.
We deeply respect that this will always be Aboriginal land and we will honour and follow the first peoples’ values in caring for the Country and for preserving their culture.
We deeply value that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest living culture in the world and we will continue to work with their peoples and communities to ensure their cultures endure and remain strong.
