Thanks to the generous support of our corporate partners and donors, United Way is able to support more hundreds of community organisations in Melbourne.

Through our national partnerships this extends our reach right across the nation, assisting more than 600 community organisations working hard to make a difference in the lives of our community's most vulnerable.

Projects supported address four focus areas:

Listed below is an example of the work United Way does in the community.  None of this work would be possible without the dedicated support of our corporate partners and the hard work of our community partners.

Assistance Dogs Australia       

Is a non-profit organisation that trains and supplies assistance or companion dogs to one of the 2.8 million (ABS 1998) Australians with a physical disability.

In 2006 United Way raised $20,000 from its Corporate Partners which contributed to Assistance Dogs’ “Companion Dog Placement” Project. The project met the costs of training a dog which was then placed with a disabled child to assist them in leading a much fuller life, increased their self-esteem and improved psychological well being.

Your donation working at Assistance Dogs Australia   

Bayley House

Bayley House is a special place. It was established by a parent group in 1951 to provide support for intellectually disabled children and their families.  Bayley House provides extensive activities, training, employment, respite andaccommodation services.Their programs are individually tailored to meet the needs and interests of their people throughout their lives.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters is Australia's leading mentoring program for young people supported by 100 years of international experience and expertise.  Big Brothers Big Sisters believes all young people need to feel valued and important. Research has demonstrated that mentoring can empower young people to reach their potential, make positive changes in their behaviour, and build self-worth, trust and relationships at home and at school. Young people who spend time with a mentor gain confidence, self-esteem and new skills, whilst mentors experience a renewed sense of discovery, learning and enjoyment.   Big Brothers Big Sisters community-based mentoring is a preventative program which involves the development of a long-term one-to-one friendship between an adult mentor and young person aged 7 to 17 years. Big Brothers Big Sisters continues to lead the field in the provision of youth services being among the small number of organisations throughout Australia whose core business is dedicated entirely to youth mentoring.

The Asylum Seeker's Resource Centre (ARSC)

The Asylum Seekers Resource Centre is the only one stop shop for asylum seekers, offering more services to a greater number of asylum seekers (3000+) than any other NGO. ARSC provides afood bank, 5 day a week health service, post – detention release and TPV settlement programs, home English tutoring program, social enterprise and micro credit programs and repatriation programs.  The Centre turns no one away and approximately 75% of the people they assist have no right to income, Medicare or work. They are totally destitute and dependent on the ASRC for their survival.

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Whitelion

Whitelion supports young people to build better lives for themselves and helps make our community a more inclusive and safer place.   Each year thousands of young people are disconnected from our community due to abuse and neglect, drug addiction and poverty. These young people have often had horrific life experiences with few positive role models and are caught in a 'cycle of discouragement' that is very hard to break. Many of these young people end up in Out-of-Home Care and in some cases in the Youth Justice System.

 

Whitelion offers young people opportunities and relationships which are uniquely different yet compliment the relationships they have with statutory and welfare professionals. They often fill the gaps created when there are no positively supportive family and community networks around a young person. These programs also generate meaningful experiences for Whitelion partners and volunteers, supported by committed professional staff.

Menzies

Menzies Inc. is a not for profit organisation which provides a broad range of innovative programs and services designed to equip young people who can no longer live with their natural families, with the life skills they need to lead independent, fulfilled lives.

Today, Menzies Inc provides accommodation for young disadvantaged people, however, current research is again redefining how we care for children. At a time when young people are coming to Menzies with increasingly complex problems, Menzies see a growing need for a variety of specialist programs that can deliver well defined therapeutic strategies in a residential care setting. Two such innovations are:  

Sages Cottage Farm

Using Animal Assisted Therapy to help children who have been subjected to abuse, neglect or family violence. 

Aggression Replacement Training

A program designed to assist young people with the most difficult emotional and behavioural problems.

 

Urban Seed

Urban Seed is a dynamic inner city community organisation combining street work in the heart of Melbourne with education programs and a strong independent voice on urban, social and political issues including homelessness, problem gambling, drug addiction and poverty.

 

Urban Seed's street work is centred on Credo Café', the venue for an open lunch program. Between 70 and 100 people attend this open lunch each day. It is one of the last remaining organisations that provide a free hot meal. Funding will be used to purchase food. We also encourage those who come to lunch to become involved in the running of Credo Café and other activities (such as sporting and community building activities). This involvement is an important aspect of our community development framework.

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