“The situation regarding COVID-19 continues to unfold and change rapidly. We are all learning and catching up with the latest information to maintain personal and public safety. Please be assured that The Family Centre will continue to provide services to our current participants and other community members who present for assistance. It is vitally important that children young people and families continue to be supported, and critical services continue to be delivered during this time. Many of the people and families we work with are already experiencing a range of hardships and vulnerabilities and it is important that we maintain a strong level of support.” 

“TFC is committed to providing the best possible services to our community during this difficult period. It appears likely that we will be operating a little differently for some period of time and I’ll provide regular updates as things change.”

Where can I get the latest information?

We strongly encourage you to follow the advice from NSW Health in relation to COVID-19.

The Australian Government Department of Health issues a daily alert on the latest medical advice and official reports.      

Stay safe!

David Boutkan

Earlier this month over 50 Family Centre board members, staff, volunteers and students came together for our strategic planning day ‘Designing the Future – Patterns, Possibilities and Pathways’ at the Ocean Shores Country Club.

“The Family Centre is a progressive, community-owned, social purpose organisation, driven by our values and focused on outcomes. In a rapidly changing environment, we are determined to work closely with our community over the next 5 years to increase our social impact” said David Boutkan, Executive Director.

“We’ve been busy over the past few months surveying and talking with current and past participants, community partners and other community stakeholders about their experience with TFC and where our focus should be in the future. Thanks to the many people who’ve helped, your contribution has been invaluable to our planning” said David

Our team utilised this stakeholder feedback as a starting point to begin the creative process of designing the future directions of our organisation, and the workshop sessions generated some amazing ideas. Our passionate team produced a literal wall of imaginative and innovative ideas and concepts. Over the coming weeks we’ll distil these ideas and emerging themes into clear plans with measurable outcomes.

As increasing inequality and the effects of climate change disproportionately impact the most vulnerable people and families, community organisations like TFC must lead and bring all of our community together to develop innovative, creative local solutions. 

“A strong message reverberated loud and clear from our team at the strategic planning day. We will redouble our efforts to work in genuine partnership with community members and groups, non-government organisations, government agencies and businesses, to make a difference, and our work will lead to progressive, measurable and sustainable social change.” said David.

Our strategic plan 2020-25 is due for public release in July 2020.

Big thank you to the staff at Ocean Shore Country Club and Matt at Spice it Up for putting on a great venue and lunch for our team.
 

Earlier this year more than 20 people from the Tweed Shire gathered together at the Murwillumbah Community Centre to participate in safeTALK training.  Participants came to learn how to prevent suicide by recognising signs, engaging someone in conversation and connecting them to support.
 
Participants gave very positive feedback which reflected a genuine commitment in wanting to make a difference and feeling more confident about the ways they can provide support.
 
safeTALK is one of many activities The Family Centre have been hosting as part of the Tweed Byron Suicide Prevention Strategy, made possible with funding from North Coast Primary Health Network. 
 
More information will be available on The Family Centre website https://thefamilycentre.org.au/ or call Hanna on 0404 020 321.

What is Youth & Family Mental Health Support?
Our Youth & Family – Mental Health Support program focuses on young people with mental health concerns. We support and assist young people and their families to identify and address emerging and existing mental health concerns. This can include facilitating access to a range of health and community services to improve mental health outcomes.

Who is it for?
Young people aged 10-21 years and/or their parent/carer who are residents of the Byron and Ballina Shires. There is no cost for this service.

How do we support young people & their families?
We assist to identify strengths and develop goals that indicate how they would like things to be. Once goals are identified we work together to create a support plan, outlining how we can assist to achieve their goals.

The support plan is driven by the needs of the young person and their family and can include: counselling, relationships and parenting skill development, referrals, providing information about services and helping to access those services.

When & where
Youth and Family workers can meet with young people and families at our centres in Byron Bay and Ballina Shires, in schools, homes and other agreed locations.

To find out more about The Family Centre’s Youth Mental Health Program call (02) 6686 4109

The Family Centre had some sad news in January with the passing of Terri Bradley. Terri was a long-standing volunteer with The Family Centre. She gifted hundreds of volunteer hours in her administrative role maintaining stakeholder records in our database. Terri was extremely diligent and had a meticulous eye for detail.
 
Terri was also a passionate activist on a range of social issues including access to affordable health care, raising awareness about the inadequacy of disability pension and Newstart rates, animal rights and euthanasia policy in Australia. 
 
Terri felt strongly about how important it was to her to make a contribution and give back to the community as best she could.
 
It always pleasant chatting to Terri who had a stoic humour and positive outlook despite her struggle with ongoing health issues.
 
Terri was a talented artist and her 3 children gifted The Family Centre with one of Terri’s paintings, which will hang in our Tweed Heads South Office.
 
Terri is sadly miss by all of us at The Family Centre and we send our condolences to Terri’s family.