Yawayi, dhangude.
Hello and welcome to the Kempsey Families 30th birthday and to NAIDOC week where we celebrate and honor our elders.
We are fortunate to live, work and play on beautiful Dunghutti country and I pay my respects to the traditional owners, the custodians and the keepers of the stories for more than 60,000 years; and to those who will be the custodians in the future.
In white fella terms, for a not for profit, regional service to survive for 30 years is no mean feat. I have often joked that this service started in not much more than a broom cupboard, such was its humble beginnings.
In the early days the service mainly met the needs for women and children, many surviving DV or struggling with children who had challenging behaviour. However, a family is much more, and now the service also engages with men who choose to address the violent behavior.
The service has always been highly regarded within the local community and within the broader community service sector, and this has meant advice being sought when new programs were being developed, such as the development of the minimum standards for the Men’s Behaviour Change program.
Along the way we have been fortunate in attracting professional staff who have brought a wide range of professional skills to the service and the same for those who volunteer for the Management Committee.
We have also had good fortune, when a few years ago there was a knock at the door and a benefactor appeared, who not only offered to assist financially to support women in need, noted that the service needed more space and purchased the building next door, our financial obligation was a $1. Which when I tried to give it to them was told in no uncertain terms what I could do with it! Hence the buildings we have today which gives the service a high level of security, and a great space to work and run programs.
I have had a long association with Kempsey Families and I continue to be amazed at the ability of those who work here to adapt to changes in policy that comes often with a change in government or work practices, brought on by a pandemic or natural disaster and being able as a not for profit to make the funding stretch to meet the ever changing needs of the community when policy decisions may not align.
To say I am just a little bit proud of Kempsey Families is an understatement and I wish them a very happy 30th birthday and many more years to come in supporting Kempsey families in the future.
Marrungbu thank you
