Did you know that people seeking asylum in our community can be without the right to work and without any income support?
At Friends of Refugees, the demand for food is 50% higher than before the pandemic and many more people are struggling with worsening poverty and have no way to buy food.
Do you want to show our government that Australians want a better treatment for people seeking asylum? The #IamWithYou campaign is a channel between you and policy makers, where you can show the government your support for people seeking asylum by adding your voice to the rising tide of voices asking for change. Add Your Voice now at www.iamwithyou.org.au
School aged children are assisted with homework and provided with comprehensive English, Maths and Science learning programs while adults are offered assistance with conversational English and literacy classes. Classes for schoolchildren are generally run after school and on Saturdays.
Family Literacy Program offers EAL classes for people seeking asylum and refugee families and care for their young children. Many people seeking asylum miss out on regular English classes since they cannot take their children aged up to 5 years to the classes.
The Food Aid program provides support to people seeking asylum and refugees frequently at risk of poverty, malnutrition and social isolation. People seeking asylum on limited income support can barely pay their rent, utilities, travel and food. The Food Aid program relies on your generous donations to support families on low or no income in a fair and dignified way that is healthy and culturally appropriate.
FORCE Cleaning and Property Maintenance creates training and employment opportunities for people from a vulnerable and disadvantaged background who are struggling to maintain work in a competitive labour market due to barriers such as their cultural background, no local references, no education pathway or no access to employment services, etc.
FORSE provides client organisations with contract cleaning of domestic and commercial premises at competitive rates. This includes all types of internal cleaning, and covers both routine cleaning and deep/intensive cleaning of houses/units and offices, gardening, window cleaning, gutter cleaning, rubbish removals, painting, minor repairs and general maintenance for commercial and domestic customers.
Friendship Outreach creates friendship in the lives of asylum seeker individuals and families struggling with social isolation, language and cultural barriers with Australians living in the metropolitan suburbs and rural areas. Through our program, Friendship Outreach aims to promote an inclusive community that values all individuals regardless of where they come from or how they came to Australia.
The Material Aid program provides support to people seeking asylum and refugees frequently at risk of poverty, malnutrition and social isolation. People seeking asylum on limited income support can barely pay their rent, utilities, travel and food. We have found pregnant women and families with children sleeping on bare floors, people going without even basic furniture like a bed or a fridge, for weeks and sometimes even months.
The Practical Work Experience emphasises on the knowledge and skills learnt during the pre-employment training and theoretical knowledge of a specific trade, craft or job function. The training focuses on the practical applications of the skills learned or acquired and it provides the much-needed hands-on instruction in a specific trade. It works as a connecting link between theoretical education and the real working environment. The practical work placements are conducted in our own social enterprises or with partner organisations.
The Practical Work English program helps build General English skills by working on practical, work-related vocabulary, and focuses on the language needed in the workplace and help participants gain the means to express themselves effectively in English in their workplace. When English is a second or a third language for many adults in the people seeking asylum community, it is often very hard to grasp English in a classroom setting, people learn better in a practical environment and are able to use and practise their new vocabulary.
FOR help’s refugees and people seeking asylum to become work-ready by providing a range of workplace skills readiness and practical training programs/activities. Additionally, our social enterprise programs (hyperlink) have been initiated to help build confidence and assist people seeking asylum and refugees become job ready by providing on the job training and experience. These programs include: catering, catering, removals, property maintenance and cleaning.
The training is made up of four major components:
Soon to be launched program...
RECOVER is a furniture up-cycling social enterprise, creating training and employment opportunities for people from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds who are struggling to maintain work in a competitive labour market due to barriers such as their cultural background, no local references, no education pathway or no access to employment services, etc. Recover is committed to sustainability and reducing landfill – up-cycling old unwanted furniture, recycling materials from unusable items, working with materials either donated or reclaimed from the local area and donating the up-cycled furniture to people in desperate need.
Learn how you can you can donate your unwanted furniture to make a meaningful difference in vulnerable people lives.
The Refugee and Asylum Seekers Recognition Awards recognises individuals from a refugee and asylum seeker background for their outstanding contribution to the Australian community. It also recognises the volunteers who have contributed significantly to the advancement of refugee resettlement and the betterment of refugees’ lives in Australia. The RASR Awards also mark and form part of the celebrations for Refugee Week (19-25 June 2016) – Australia’s peak annual activity to inform the public on refugee issues. Recipients are recognised at an Awards Ceremony held during the Refugee Week.
People from refugee backgrounds suffer from a loss of identity, social isolation, language and cultural barriers and the uncertainty that comes from losing everything they have ever known and the uncertainty of their future in Australia. The horrors they flee from, the trauma and the upheaval of their experiences and the unfamiliarity of a new country they are settling in creates immense fear, often immobilising them from taking action to improve their situation causing severe depression and PTSD.
Do you want to show our government that Australians want a better treatment for people seeking asylum? The #IamWithYou campaign is where you can show the government your support for people seeking asylum by adding your voice to the rising tide of voices asking for change. Add Your Voice now at www.iamwithyou.org.au
Can you donate $10 and share with 10 of your friends to help us to continue the key services & fill in the service gaps that other funded agencies are unable to?
