New Bundoora Units Complete
As detailed on the front cover, we are very pleased to have our twenty brand new Bundoora units complete, with some residents moving in before Christmas and almost all now occupied.
The build has gone very smoothly and I’d like to commend builders Costas Construction who have provided a very professional service throughout. They are supportive of our community and also made a sizeable donation to support veterans at the V Centre Veteran Empowerment Program.
We look forward to holding an official opening event in the coming weeks.
‘V Satellite’ for Geelong
At our Geelong Ex-Service Accommodation site, we are progressing plans for the first ‘V Satellite’, a service offering transitional accommodation plus support, for up to ten veterans at a time, linked in to the V Centre in Ivanhoe for oversight, guidance and support.
Thanks to funding from the Federal Government’s Veteran Acute Housing Program, we are able to take this important step forward in addressing the urgent needs of veterans who are in a transitional phase of their lives. The V Satellite will be a critical part of the pathway for veterans to access long-term housing and support.
Read more about this project here.
Frankston South Development
Since our last issue, we have met with and/or been in touch with our Frankston South aged care residents, their families and our staff who work there, the ex-service accommodation residents, local neighbours, ex-service organisations, the local council and many others to talk about the plans for expanding our accommodation and services at this site.
We will continue to engage with the whole community as the project progresses.
At this stage, the plans remain with the Department of Transport and Planning and we do not expect any further news before April.
Read more about our Vision for Frankston South here.
Partnering and Getting Involved
We are very grateful to Defence Health for their partnership with us and financial support of the V Centre over the past year.
It has been great to have Defence Health staff volunteering with us at several activities during the year and we hope to see them again!
Partnerships of all types are increasingly important to our organisation as we work to respond to the current and emerging needs of the veteran community, extending our reach, building capacity and teaming up with both mainstream and ex-service organisations to achieve the best outcomes for veterans, their families and older Australians.
New Body: Veteran Care Australia
Leaders of veteran support organisations similar to Vasey RSL Care across Australia have come together to set up a new body to collectively advocate for the needs of the veteran community. Member organisations are RSL Care SA, RSL LifeCare (NSW), the Air Force Association WA (RAAFA) and ourselves.
We are very pleased to be part of this new initiative that will strengthen our impact: there are many issues that affect us in similar ways and we can achieve more for our community working together.
Veterans In Need
As Australia burned and flooded in different areas at the same time, a veteran who lost his everything in bushfires was referred to us.
As you can read here, we’ve been able to provide accommodation and do what we can to help get him through this terrible time. And that is indeed our purpose.
Janna Voloshin
Chief Executive Officer