Karinya House: Advancing the status of our most vulnerable women

This week our Zonta Club returned from our summer holiday break. To open the year we had a great guest: Jacqui Gallagher from Karinya House.

Karinya provides supported accommodation, transitional housing and outreach services to pregnant and parenting women, particularly younger ones, who are in crisis.

So what does that mean in real terms?

Imagine a pregnant teenager - homeless, perhaps the father is gone, perhaps she has problems with her family. Mostly likely she has dropped out of school and at worst may have been involved with drugs or the victim of violence.

Karinya provides a safe place where she can go.

In the past year Karinya hosted 38 women with 37 babies; and provided outreach services to 235. 64% of these women where below the age of 25. Unfortunately 316 young women were not accommodated.

Karinya's clients are truly among the most vulnerable and at risk women in our community. Can you imagine one of these young women without supporters, any possessions, a place to live. Many times she has given birth in hospital and with no where to go, she is referred to Karinya. Young women in such a position rarely have skills in parenting, home life, employment and personal care. Without Karinya's services these young families could face a very uncertain future.

This is where Karinya's outreach services come into play. Their case work support is wide ranging and can include:

• Birth preparation support
• Health care advice
• Budgeting and financial planning advice
• Public housing applications
• Support accessing education to finish school studies
• Referral to other services for medical, antenatal, legal, welfare, and housing organisations
• Assistance moving and maintaining independent living
• Practical assistance with household goods, clothing, baby goods and maternity requirements

Club members Penny (centre) and Ceri (right) deliver kitchen starter packs to Karinya

Karinya's clients provide regular and positive feedback on the services. Jacquie shared a card recently recieved that expressed one young woman's appreciation for the support, care and compassion experienced.

 Jacquie shared another story of "Lisa". Lisa was escaping violence, she had a 2 yr old daughter and had a new baby son recently delivered by caesarian. Lisa was living in a car, had no income and was not a permanent Australian resident so she didn't qualify for welfare benefits. Lisa said she had "no voice and no dignity".

Once moving into Karinya her life instantly changed for the better. Beyond the safe environment, Karinya helped Lisa get a scholarship to a Toddler Parenting course, achieve her drivers license, gain permanent residency and access welfare benefits and now is planning to access independent housing.

"I couldn't imagine Karinya could do what they did. They brought back my dignity as a woman and a mother."

Karinya have a hope for the future. They are currently negotiating with the government to access a tract of land and are developing a plan for a cluster housing project to provide more refuge housing so women and their families can transition into a safe and independent lifestyle.

The Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast is proud to be among many who have continued support for Karinya House over many years. Our club is supplying kitchen starter packs, ready to go maternity bags, a spring cleaning working bee, financial donations, 2nd hand baby goods and furniture, linen and towels.

Karinya is providing a vital service to so many of the young women of Canberra and helping them move forward and become valuable participants of our community.

How about your club? What are your service projects that support vulnerable young women in your community?

All photos sourced from Karinya House Annual Report 2009/10

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Ahhh ... the 50's!

When I was young my family lived in a small 2 bedroom grey plasterboard house.

In the mid-eighties, the Road and Traffic Authority decided to widen the road, which meant demolition of our little box, along with everyone else on our side of the street. They did a lovely display in the local library in a vague attempt to build good will. In their professional poster presentation, meant to enthuse modernisation, they pointed out there were areas that were "run down".

And there was the photo of our house.

Our little boxy, corrugated iron roofed, elephant grey, dusty gyprocky house. And then it was gone and my parents had to build something new.

That was 1986 and according to Monsanto in 1957, this is the house we were supposed to be building by that time.

Monsanto's "House of the Future"  (source: yesterland.com)

A big white cross shaped house made completely out of plastic!!

Sounds like Shane Warne - he's made out of plastic isn't he?

Plastic walls, floors, plates, showers, benchtops, curtains, lights .... I wonder if it was fireproofed?

Now you must go quickly to Progress City USA and read the excellent story:  Squatting in Monsanto's House of the Future.  And make sure you watch that first video. The rest of this post will make a lot more sense if you do. Go Now!

Progress City USA researches for the most interesting material from the past, present and future of the world of Disney and writes intelligent, engaging, and original pieces.

Are you back??

Now the reason why I referenced this post and video is because it's a cultural time capsule. For years we've all watched old TV shows and advertisements where the happy housewife does the cleaning in her pearls. Economic circumstances and trail blazing women shifted women's futures from the kitchen into the workplace. Whilst it explicitly depicts a fantasy world for housewives there are also hints at a philosophical subtext.

What I find fascinating is the first few minutes where the video gives an impressive declaration that this is the way Americans are to live - they must live! Yes I was expecting coiffed women with their gloves on their visit to Disneyland. What I wasn't expecting was the subtext about the necessity to control the "revolution". That order must be brought where there is chaos. MIT experts are required to bring "form and direction". Heaven forbid that we should have spontaneity.

The video provides everything in one snapshot of that bolted down, tied up, controlled public face of America that today seems laughable or misguided.

I could drag this out ... but I have to go dress. And from now you are to call me m'lady.

Go to Progess City USA and read their blog - GO!