respect and a sense of belonging. website:

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1 Diversity Respect Empowerment Participation Resilience website: This year SMRC chose to celebrate Harmony Day with two other local agencies that may well soon all belong to the same organisation. Staff of SCAAB, DCAB and SMRC came to our new Clow Street premises for a large multicultural lunch from a selection of the many nations represented in the region. Harmony Day began in 1999, coinciding with United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Each year, it is marked by people participating together in various activities. The message of Harmony Day is 'Everyone Belongs', meaning community participation, inclusiveness, diversity, respect and a sense of belonging. Pictured: below left, Jenny Semple CEO of SMRC and Jinny McGrath, CEO of DCAB spoke to staff at the event.

2 Well, our change of address has taken place and everyone is much happier with the new SMRC location. It was a pleasure to work with the City of Greater Dandenong on this. Thank you to Jenny and the SMRC managers, especially Jacob, and the staff, who moved our operations to the new location so well. I trust you ll be able to join us on 28th April for the of1icial opening. As you would recall from the AGM last year, and earlier news to members, the SMRC has been looking into merging with Springvale Community Advice and Assistance Bureau (SCAAB). After our AGM, the two agencies were approached by Dandenong Community Advice Bureau (DCAB) to also be part of the merge. As outlined, the SMRC Board felt there were many advantages in merging the two organisations and DCAB joining would make us even stronger. A joint meeting of the three Boards took place in December and in February DCAB signed a Heads of Agreement to take part in due diligence investigation into operations and 1inances to ensure there are no risks in each organisation merging with the others. This has caused a delay in the process which has been frustrating. We expected the due diligence to be 1inalised by February so an initial report could be made to our members, but the process is yet to 1inish. I apologise for the holdup. The Board intends there will be an information meeting for members as soon as the due diligence is 1inished. So far all three Boards have agreed that the new entity should be an incorporated body, as we are now, and will not become a company limited corporation and that the new entity will be membership-based, all existing members will be given the opportunity to transfer. Not too long in the future we will hold a meeting where members will be asked to vote on accepting or rejecting matters needed before a new legal entity can be established. These matters will be the Constitution, Name and the 6 members from the SMRC Board who will be join the Board of the new entity. I look forward to and value your input at that time. Should you have any enquiries please contact me on chairperson@smrc.org.au SMRC and Monash Health conducted an ethnic seniors leadership forum where a large range of seniors clubs were represented. We acknowledged the contribution that leaders make to the health and wellbeing of seniors. Certi1icates of appreciation were awarded to community leaders by Marion Lau, Deputy Chair of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria. Further presentations examined changes to Aged Care and a new resource on Elder Abuse. The event provided us with an opportunity to consult with the leaders on what s working well in their clubs and what issues were being faced by older members of their communities. Pictured: (left) Marion Lau, Deputy Chair, ECCV (top right) Linda Stewart Wynd, DHHS: Anne Jones, SMRC; Kerry Moor, City of Greater Dandenong; Emily Murian, City of Casey. (Right) Members of the Berwick and District Greek Seniors Club.

3 This month we organised a BBQ and sports event for our youth clients. The event was held at the Pop-Up Park in Dandenong. Young people attended as well as case managers from Department of Human Services, as well as the Futsal coach Chris Muelu (for the uninitiated, Futsal is a 1ive-per-side version of soccer developed in Brazil). The activity was designed for our youth workers to build rapport with clients, get to know them and most importantly, for clients to have fun and meet new people. The clients, DHS caseworkers and SMRC youth workers played a game of soccer, it was a lot of fun and there was a lot of young talent on the 1ield. This event was also an opportunity to have informal conversations with the group to discuss their interests and what information is most important to them, which will help to inform future activities. The young people also liked the idea of having a Futsal clinic and being trained by the state representative futsal coach in preparation for our annual SMRC Refugee Week Soccer Tournament, to be held in June. Pictured: SRMC Settlement worker Courtney Dunn, Team Leader Jennifer Dunne, Settlement workers Hayatullah Rahimi and Ali Hussain. Due to program changes, SMRC will no longer be providing fee-for-service Migration Advice. Consequently our registered migration agent, Hany Boulos, will no longer be working as an employee of the Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre. Instead, Hany has set up his own independent agency, Frontier Immigration. He has committed to continue assisting SMRC s fee -for-service migration clients in a private fee-paying capacity and to continue the same standard of professionalism as an independent agent. His new contact details are as follows: Frontier Immigration, 120 Thomas St Dandenong, Ph: , Mobile: , hany@frontierimmigration.com.au. For access to our free migration service to eligible humanitarian services clients, please talk to our duty intake worker.

4 SMRC has a new home: 39 Clow Street Dandenong, formerly the of- 1ices of City of Greater Dandenong. Our of1icial opening will be at 10 am on Tues 28th April, opened by Mayor of Greater Dandenong, Cr Sean O Reilly, including entertainment and refreshments. RSVP Fri 24th April to reception@smrc.org.au for catering purposes. In my country (Afghanistan) I was always working and very busy, I don t want to just stay at home and my children have encouraged me to volunteer as I like to help people. I want to work with older persons as they live alone and have language dif1iculties. It is good to help older people. I enjoy the Friday group, helping with the exercises and translating for the clients and staff. It gives great joy to the people (clients) when I am able to speak their language, it is particularly helpful to the women. I get great happiness from volunteering, when I wake up, I am happy if it is my volunteering day. Pictured: Pashtoon Rahmani assisting clients at one of our exercise classes. At the start of 2015, SMRC collaborated with Kim Welch of Let s Talk Life to offer a lifestyle modi1ication program to complement existing physical exercise programs. We aim to reduce individuals risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and stroke by providing clients with tools, knowledge and support to make lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. We have delivered the program to a group of mainly Sri Lanka seniors so far. The group has embarked on a journey of lifestyle modi1ication and healthy eating. There has been a lot of fun on the way, as participants have enjoyed healthy meals and adopted healthier cooking habits, using less oil, salt and fat. A highlight of the program has been a shopping tour and label-reading in the supermarket, providing each client with $10 to buy ingredients for meals using healthy choices criteria. Another highlight has been recipe modi1ication, as clients substitute ingredients of favourite recipes with small changes to make them healthier. In the second half of 2015, we will offer a program to the Italian seniors group in Pakenham. Any enquiries, please contact Vivian Yong, Positive Ageing Program Coordinator on or viviany@smrc.org.au Pictured: Kim Welch, adviser, with participants Para and Rajah.

5 SMRC has developed a men s Planned Activity Group, funded by City of Casey via Department of Health under the Home and Community Care program, and facilitated by us. It is a social program for men is currently based in Cranbourne. Our target clients are from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, consisting of men who held positions of responsibility in their homelands but have found themselves in uncertain circumstances in Australia, and without obvious opportunities for social engagement. In the 1irst 6 months, some of the more sociallyengaged women supported their husbands by accompanying them. Then the men felt con1ident and relaxed about participating on their own. From the start, the program has focused on exercise, including strength-training and Tai Chi, a healthy morning tea, and culturally appropriate lunches. Then we purchased Carrom boards and chess sets. Soon the men were addicted to these games, which most them used to play in their home countries. To increase the number of clients, we approached the local Sikh temple. For the last six months we have catered to different needs to satisfy the many Sikh men who have now joined the program. Maintaining everyone s preference may occasionally be a challenge but everyone is respectful and appreciative of one another. Then men are aware of how important and sensitive are the traditions, including culinary traditions. They very respectful of accepting differences. Our participants all enjoy their outings, particularly the seaside, the art exhibitions, visiting gardens and nature, and photography. These photographs were taken by one of our clients. We are very proud of this new initiative and we see it as part of the evolving nature of Planned Activity Groups in our highly diverse community. Pictured: members of the men s Planned Activity Group

6 VOLUNTEERS WANTED: Aged Care Services We seek volunteers to support frail older migrants who are lonely. Volunteers can assist a person in their home or a small group in a nursing home. Volunteers also assist in group activities at community centres and in strength-based exercise programs. For information, please contact Trish Matthes on or at PatriciaM@smrc.org.au Refugee Support Do you want to make a difference in the lives of refugees? Are you interested in work experience for at least 3 hours per week? Can you speak another language as well as read & write in English? Please contact Sharon Smith on or at sharons@smrc.org.au Homework Support We seek volunteer tutors to help refugee students (Years 7-12) after school hours with homework skills in Maths, Science and English. Please contact Sharon Smith on or sharons@smrc.org.au

7 Diverse Care is a social enterprise of SMRC Our 120 bi-lingual workers provide personal care, respite and home help. We have over 50 different languages in our workforce to meet the needs of clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. We are now recruiting. Cert III in Aged Care or HACC. Ability to speak a language other than English is highly desirable. Languages in high demand : Greek, Italian, Bosnia, Croatian, Serbian, Dari, Polish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese Suburbs in high demand : Caul@ield, Bulleen, Narre Warren, Knox@ield, Ferntree Gully, Bentleigh, Mentone, Box Hill For more information, contact Penny Taramides, Team Leader, on or pennyt@smrc.org.au

8 To become a member of the SMRC APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP I, Surname Given Name(s) of Address - home (no. and Street Name) Postcode Address - work Postcode Tel: (Home) (Work) (Mobile) Fax: want to become a member of the Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre; and I agree to be bound by the Rules of the Centre for the duration of my Membership. I enclose membership fee of ten dollars ($10.00 incl. GST) for 5 years membership fee. Signed: Dated: Please state which nationality, cultural or ethnic group you belong to. Ethnic Group: Language/s spoken: For details about SMRC services or publications please see our Website or contact the Client Services Manager, Bill Collopy, billc@smrc.org.au Page 8