by Sahar Foladi
A Women’s Empowerment program developed for all, with no barriers has been well received in Dandenong
Operated and managed by ADEC, an NDIS provider, the WE program is for disadvantaged women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities within Greater Dandenong.
The not-for-profit organisation has been running the capacity-building program for years, welcoming all female participants.
It’s developed to enhance social cohesion, build strong connections and to teach self-advocacy in a fun and relaxed environment.
Rachel Westhorpe, a capability building officer who runs WE, says it focuses on boosting the women’s knowledge to self-protect and advocate for themselves.
“We consulted with participants and we identified there a definite gap and need for empowering women. That’s why we developed the program based off the needs of the community.
“Quite a few have said they can’t advocate for themselves and their families.
“Knowledge is power, so this is empowering them with the knowledge to defend themselves if an issue arose, (such as) financial wellbeing.”
Participants enjoyed self-defence classes as well as listened to speakers from crucial organisations.
They learnt that Good Shepherd offers no-interest loans in case of financial strains at the time of a cost of living and rental crisis.
“It’s also about shared experiences so they shared what they do and what financial wellbeing means for them.
“It’s wonderful to see them sharing because they may have felt vulnerable and alone so they are learning from each other.
“It’s been a very important thing and we’ve seen this quite a lot which is rewarding.”
The seven week program has also covered breast screening, mental health discussions, legal assistance, employment information, information on scams and Services Australia and art therapy.
The art therapy turned out to be emotional to some as they opened up about their experiences.
“It was beautiful to see people who didn’t know each other a few weeks ago to provide support,” Ms Westhorpe said.
After a break over the school holidays, the WE program resumed for term 2 on Wednesday 23 April. Term 3 starts on 23 July-3 September and term 4 on 8 October-19 November.
It has received a great feedback from the participants with many of them coming back to term 2 for more.
Ms Westhorpe says they will try to modify WE so the re-visiting participants can learn something new each time.
“We’re always listening to the participants’ feedback at the end of the programs each term to identify where they really enjoyed certain things, how we can do more and adapt the programs to their liking.
“We’re open to suggestions because this program is for them.”
WE workshops run every Wednesdays from 10.30am until 12.30pm at the Paddy O’Donoghue Centre Noble Park.
