Holidy Camp Of Hope
A LOWER plenty holiday camp is stitching together fragmented and disadvantaged communities with the human chain of kindness.
Edmund Rice Camps chief executive Mark Monahan said a lack of social cohesion continued to rate highly among new arrivals and families on the poverty line.
“A lot of families we work with stay at home and have very little contact with the outside world, apart from their kids attending school, because they feel worthless in the community,” Mr Monahan said.
“After coming to the camps a group of mothers finally had the confidence to sit on a tram and go to Federation Square for the first time on their own, and that was a big deal for them.”
The Amberley Way retreat runs holiday programs for disadvantaged and refugee children and their families, which builds self-confidence, role modelling and a sense of belonging.
Mr Monahan, who took part in the Our Community Leader Community Newspapers Community Confidence Index survey, said his organisation had a hardworking staff of young volunteers, but battled to retain. “If we invest in them and are flexible, welcoming them back after they’ve come back from overseas, they do stay longer,” he said.
Edmund Rice Camps is looking for people in a variety of professions to sit on its board of management, and for continued donations. To help, phone 03 9439 6142.
