November 2002

Consider yourselves part of the furniture

An innovative project is helping newly-arrived refugees in public housing establish their own businesses and break down the barriers to economic and social independence.

The project will provide training, leadership and language skills for more than 100 over-45s living in public housing in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne.

The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Pathways project is an initiative of the Government’s Community Support Fund, in partnership with Adult Multicultural Education Services (AMES), and is based at the North Melbourne Community Centre.

It will offer vocational skills training and English language training for 105 people as well as extra leadership and management training so participants can become community mentors.

The project will build on two successful pilots run by AMES in 2001—the African Women’s Network and the United Wood Co-Operative, known as The Tool Shed.

The Tool Shed is a co-operative of men, mainly from Horn of Africa communities, who build bed bases and other furniture for transitional housing under the humanitarian resettlement scheme for refugees.

The African Women’s Network provides contract cleaning services with the firm Resource Challenge for transitional housing properties under the humanitarian resettlement scheme.

The project should become self-sustaining over a three-year period with participants then taking over the running of the group and delivery of the services.

Other community partners working together to foster these and other sustainable enterprises include the City of Moonee Valley, St Vincent de Paul and VicHealth.