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We receive referrals from places like
Child Protection, the police, schools,
and from families themselves. Often
families are aware of what isn’t work-
ing but don’t have the capabilities or
resources to work around that”, com-
ments Angela.
A ‘strong culture of
support’
The organisation has a strong culture
of support, supervision, and account-
ability. One of their core values re-
volves around learning and education
from both sides of the coin. Internally,
they invest heavily into increasing staff
qualifications and skills through thor-
ough training and development pro-
grams which are open to all staff in the
organisation. Externally, they educate
the community on their work and what
they can do to improve their lives.
This is also applied to their work with
vulnerable families: “The bulk of our
work is working in what’s called Inte-
grated Family Services. We work with
families wherever they are struggling.
For instance, in cases where children
are clearly seen to be at risk, the par-
ents may be struggling and not meet-
ing their needs so we go in and work
with those parents, their children, and
whoever else may be a part of that set-
ting to help them start functioning in a
way that is healthy for themselves and
their children. Also in a way that their
children’s well-being in the future can
be improved.”
Looking ahead, Angela sees a bright
future for Connections. So far, they
have overachieved any growth plans
and have remained a strong commu-
nity organisation with a lot of exper-
tise and influence. Now, they are in the
process of a merger which will hope-
fully reinforce their position even fur-
ther. More opportunities will be provid-
ed to support those most in need. The
organisation’s view of making lives
better will continue to be an absolute
commitment across all levels of the or-
ganisation.