THE three Neighbourhood Houses in the Gannawarra Shire are celebrating Neighbourhood House Week 2022 with a number of events, and the whole community is invited.
Neighbourhood House Week, happening May 9-15, is a national initiative which celebrates the role of more than 1000 neighbourhood houses in local communities across Australia.
Cohuna Neighbourhood House, Kerang Neighbourhood House and the Quambatook Community Resource Centre are three of more than 400 houses in Victoria, and are proud members of the Mallee Neighbourhood House Network.
“We are super excited to be bringing our communities together to celebrate what makes Neighbourhood Houses such special places for many locals,” Kerang Neighbourhood House manager Meg Stewart said.
“It’s been a tough time with the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am proud of everything we have done to make it a little easier for our community.”
The theme of this year’s celebration is building resilience by bringing people together.
“As we emerge from a very unusual couple of years, we are seeing some people struggle with re-engaging in activities. Our social fitness has to be rebuilt,” Ms Stewart said.
“This Neighbourhood House week our houses in the Gannawarra are providing opportunities for community members to stretch some of those social muscles and perhaps meet some new people. We have morning teas, lunches and talks occurring along with all our other regular activities.”
Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association president Nicole Battle, said this year’s Neighbourhood House Week theme was about re-emerging and rebuilding a harmonious and resilient community after the lockdowns that saw so many Australians isolated.
“I am so proud to lead such a resilient, responsive and adaptive sector, made up of so many selfless and hardworking individuals,” Ms Battle said.
“Neighbourhood and community houses and centres have truly demonstrated their weight in gold over the past two-and-a-half years.
“While so many other services closed during the lockdowns, Victorian Neighbourhood Houses stepped up. Ninety-six per cent of Neighbourhood Houses continued to deliver in varying capacities, and 60 per cent ran food relief programs, responding to a significant rise in demand.
“Other services our houses provided included childcare, remote adult education, home deliveries, wellbeing calls, letterbox drops, online social gatherings, technology support and device hire.
“Neighbourhood Houses also played a valuable role during the rollout of the vaccine program, creating awareness and combating vaccine hesitancy. Some even hosted pop-up vaccination sites at their premises to make the vaccine more accessible to vulnerable community members.”
