Project Worthy Of Support

Newcastle Herald

Saturday March 15, 2008

By CHRIS BOSWELL, Rotary Club of Newcastle President

IT is my pleasure to welcome you all to our District Conference. We are sure that you will enjoy the content and calibre of guest speakers, and the fellowship provided over the next few days.

When looking for a worthy project for this year, we came upon an organisation called Jenny's Place which was seeking assistance to establish a resource centre in the Newcastle CBD.

Jenny's Place Women and Children's Refuge was founded in 1977, the first refuge in the Hunter. Last year it marked 30 years of providing supported crisis accommodation to women and children escaping domestic violence.

Jenny's Place has an ongoing commitment to supporting and providing a holistic range of services including prevention and intervention, accommodation and support, outreach and post-crisis programs to meet the differing and changing needs of the community.

Through its intervention and outreach programs Jenny's Place identified a gap in service delivery. There was no drop-in centre available to victims who wished to talk face to face with someone experienced in supporting victims of domestic violence.

The service receives many calls from people who want to discuss issues such as the history of their relationship, options for housing and finance, safety and child protection, legal matters and strategies for escaping the domestic violence cycle.

With the support of the Rotary Club of Newcastle, and with assistance from the Rotary Club of Warners Bay, we are proud to announce this new resource centre has now been established.