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Integricare
Integricare Supported Playgroups St George Integricare Supported Playgroups
Northern Sydney
It’s been another incredibly busy year at Integricare
Supported Playgroups Northern Sydney, with a total of 7
groups running each week, plus an Aboriginal group, in
operation across the North Shore supporting over 65
families in the past 12 months.
We are extremely successful in meeting the needs of
these families, including providing support to a single
father who had moved over from New Zealand to look
after his 2 children and had no access to services prior to
coming to us through a word of mouth referral. We also
supported a mother with 2 children newly diagnosed
with Autism to ensure she received support and training
to meet their needs; several parents with English as a
2nd language into English classes; a couple of mums
into return to work training; and many families into
dental services and preparing their children to start
Primary School.
We have re-established our Aboriginal group at
Macquarie University in partnership with The Benevolent
Society and are continuing our partnership with
CatholicCare at Naremburn. We have been fortunate to
have extensive involvement in projects such as the
Grandparenting Group, FAMS interagency and the FACS
initiative “Ready for Life, Ready for Success”.
Rona Torrance
During mid-2015 a mother with her two young daughters
started to attend Integricare Supported Playgroups after
hearing the workers could help support her. She had
escaped a Domestic Violence situation and had been living in
a refuge for a short period of time.
She was new to the area and did not know anyone, her
confidence and self-esteem were low.
She needed support in many areas such as legal, financial
assistance and support with her children. Sometimes she just
needed to talk to someone about what was happening for
her and how challenged she felt as a single parent.
As time went on and with the support of the family worker
the client’s confidence grew and she began to feel good
about herself and looked forward to her and her children’s
future, something that she had never felt before.
She asked about studying and what was available to her.
She recognised that after years of being out of the work
force she would need to re-enter and studying was the
best option for her.
She has successfully completed an Aged and Disability
certificate and looking to do more.
Integricare Supported Playgroups worked closely with The
Beauty Bank and arranged a luxury item pack filled with
self-care products and Dandelion provided winter clothing
and toys for both her young daughters.
“Nobody has ever cared about me and my children
this much”.
The relationship between worker and client was trusting,
strong and transparent something that this client had
limited experience in previously, due to her Domestic Violence
background.
It was paramount to empower this client to the best of her
ability and support her and her children until her self-
confidence grew and her capacity to believe in herself.
Renee Gardiner