I work for a non-profit organisation. Family Life. I’ve been with them for well over ten years now.
When I started blogging and getting involved in social media I made a decision to keep my online world very separate from my working life. Today however, it’s time to bring the two things together.
I work for Family Life because I believe in what it does. We are about transforming lives for stronger communities.
There’s a good reason why I work here, as you read this information from the “About Us” on our website, if you know me well, think about my social activism, my core values and the sort of person I am. It’s a bit of a surprise at just how closely the values of my work place align with my own personal values.
Family Life assists families, children and young people as well as making our society a better place for everyone including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.
At the heart of our enterprise is the authentic grass-root relationships with our people, the people we help and the people of the community.
Family Life is a centre of research, knowledge and innovation delivering measurable social change and impact.
We contribute to national and international knowledge through our reputation for changing lives by effective connection, care and transformation.
Family Life offers counselling, mediation, mental health services, support and community educational services, outreach to homes, case coordination and advocacy.
I am the first to admit that I’d suck at counselling. However, I can see the value of it. I’ve been the recipient of it (not at work!). I have heard the stories from the people I work with that turn people’s lives around.
The story of how we helped reduce the number of police visits to a housing estate by engaging with the community and helping them become leaders, now the police attend not to deal with a crisis but to help cook the breakfast. The impact we have by going into schools and helping parents become leaders and how that turns around the school community.
This is brilliant work. I’m often gob smacked by the impact those I work with have on others. I know it’s not work that I can do. But, in my own way, I hope that by supporting my colleagues through my ICT, Property and communication skills I might be making their job easier so that they can get on and do the important work that needs doing.
This stuff doesn’t come cheap. Some of our great programs receive no government funding and we do our best to fund raise to cover the gaps, but that is getting harder. We need some help to keep programs like Peopleworx alive. Peopleworx is about helping getting kids working. We need a bit of a kick to keep the Creating Capable Communities work going.
Can you help? Can you make that all important tax-deductible donation to assist in this important work?
Visit the website and make a small contribution. (Or even a large one). It all helps.
I can say with confidence that we are an organisation that is well run, careful and progressive. It has a great staff of over 100 people and 350 volunteers, it reaches many thousands of people across Melbourne’s south east offering support and help to those in need. We really do take our mission seriously:
To create caring, capable communities through innovative, ethical solutions, promoting wellbeing, and responding to the needs of families, children and young people.
Thanks for reading.
