CASE for Refugees (CASE) is the only organisation in Western Australia specialising in the provision of free migration assistance to refugees.
Without CASE, many disadvantaged refugees would be unable to access appropriate legal assistance. Fee-free interpreters are made available to CASE clients; however, often the service does not provide the language that is needed for clients from remote areas of Africa or Asia. To assist with this problem, Allens has established an interpreter fund for clients who are unable to afford such interpreting services.
Headwest provides support for people with an acquired brain injury, their families and carers.
The firm was pleased to provide funding to Headwest for the renovation of the flooring at Headwest to make it suitable for wheelchair use.
The Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) Program provides free English support and community services to the Sudanese refugee community in Melbourne and Sydney.
Adult literacy in South Sudan is poor. Only 12 per cent of South Sudanese women are literate and high dropout rates mean that only 2 percent of students complete primary school. The SAIL program offers Sudanese refugees the financial and social support to overcome such adversity. Allens contributed to the SAIL VCE Bursary program, which provided textbooks to students from struggling Sudanese families.
Allens supported The Smith Family's Digital Literacy Program.
The program was aimed at educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds in computer literacy. Participants attended a four-week computer training and financial literacy course, and were given access to a computer, software, and an Internet connection. We are proud to help facilitate greater digital literacy and access to technology for financially disadvantaged children and their families, so that they can readily participate in today's online world.
The Solutions Network Foundation aims to eradicate the root causes of youth homelessness and marginalisation through collaborative community strategies.
Allens supported the organisation to work with disengaged youth in the Sippy Downs region of Queensland. The Solutions Network Foundation partnered with schools, sporting and youth groups to provide the opportunity for the youth of the area to develop an idea of what they would like their community to be for them and their family.
Stewart House is a hospital, school and charity that provides respite care for children in need who attend public schools across NSW. Some are suffering from ill health, some have never had a proper holiday, and some are victims of poverty, neglect or isolation. Each year, Stewart House invites two groups of children from special education units to attend a five-day modified program. Allens funded the five-day stay of one special education group comprising 42 children. The children and their carers enjoyed spending time in sunny Sydney, visiting landmarks and taking part in activities. The opportunity to participate in such a program provides these children with new experiences, a sense of independence and unique interaction with peers from other schools across the state.
Photo: Children enjoying the excursions around Sydney.
Ganbina was established in 1997 as the peak Indigenous body for economic, employment and training issues in the Goulburn Valley area of Victoria. The Indigenous community in the Goulburn Valley is the largest Indigenous community in Victoria outside Melbourne. Within the community, unemployment is 77.6 per cent – 10 times higher than for non-Indigenous people. Ganbina's vision is to reduce unemployment and enable Indigenous youth to maximise the opportunities available to them. Allens funded Ganbina's Jobs4U2 Program, which engaged approximately 140 young people and helped them realise their career potential so they could contribute to local business and industry in a positive way.
Photo: L- R: Emma Stacey, Neville Atkinson (Chairman of Ganbina), Anne Ferguson, Robyn Chatwood,
and Steve Clifford.
The cost of fresh food in remote Australian communities can be up to 108 per cent higher than in capital cities.
It is a major cause of the poor diet that leads to maternal malnutrition, low birth weight, and chronic life-threatening illnesses prevalent in Indigenous Australians. To tackle these issues, Allens has supported the Fred Hollows Foundation's Really Cooking Good Food Project, which has seen the development of an Indigenous cookbook that is simple, practical and promotes healthy options. For the book to be developed, registered training courses were held to train 40 Indigenous people in cooking, photography, administration and computer and information technology. The book has been a great success and has been widely circulated throughout Indigenous communities in rural Australia.
This year, Allens is supporting a vocational and life-skills project initiated by the Christian Foundation for the Blind in Thailand, in conjunction with the Empowerment and Career Development Centre for the Disabled.
The project is designed to provide vocational Thai massage training to blind students, as well as teaching the students general survival skills, including independent travelling skills and literacy in Braille. The overall aim of the program is to improve the students' quality of life and to promote and develop opportunities for blind persons in Thailand.
In 2009, staff at the Ho Chi Minh City Office supported a one-year-old girl from Dong Nai Province, who had a critical heart condition.
The condition meant that she needed to undergo urgent heart surgery. The office was able to raise half the cost of the girl's medical treatment. The Vinacapital Foundation provided funding for the remaining costs.
Lifestart Foundation supports individuals with disabilities, orphans, street children and disadvantaged families in the Quang Nam province of Vietnam, by providing them with medical and financial assistance, guidance, and educational assistance, including training, scholarships and apprenticeships. Lifestart is establishing a free community rehabilitation centre in Hoi An to provide access to adequate physiotherapy treatment and equipment to people with disabilities in Quang Nam who would not otherwise have access to such equipment. Allens will fund the purchase of equipment such as massage tables, walking frames, exercise machines and wheelchairs.
Photo: The Lifestart Foundation Free School caters for extremely poor, illiterate, disadvantaged, neglected and abused children aged between eight and 20 years old.
TWC2 works to improve the welfare of migrant workers in Singapore and across the region through advocacy, research, public education and direct assistance programs.
Among other projects, TWC2 provides a helpline for migrant workers seeking assistance in regards to their employment conditions. It also runs a casework program and free meals program for homeless migrant workers.
Several members of the Singapore office have volunteered at TWC2's Cuff Road Project, where free meals are offered to male workers with employment-related issues.
The Singapore office has hosted a number of events, such as cake and coffee mornings, to raise awareness of TWC2 and fundraise for the charity. The money raised has been used to buy fruit and phonecards for migrant workers. The office also has set aside a dedicated area in the office for used clothing that we donate to the charity.
Vision First is a newly established Hong Kong charity that provides humanitarian assistance to asylum-seekers and refugees in Hong Kong.
Vision First runs programs that meet the basic needs of individuals and
families, such as providing food, emergency housing and medication. Vision First
also offers necessary services such as legal advocacy, counselling services,
medical assistance, accommodation, and vocational and life-skills training.
Allens is supporting the continued operation of Vision First's 'Dinners with
Dignity' program. The program provides meals to refugees and asylum seekers on
Sundays and public holidays, when other soup kitchens in Hong Kong are closed.
The food program aims to ensure that people are able to have one meal a day,
which they would otherwise go without, as well as restoring a measure of dignity
by providing individuals with the opportunity to choose their meal.
Photo: Volunteer staff at Vision First's 'Dinners with Dignity' program.
SympaMeals was established by two staff members of the Hanoi office, Hop Dang and Anh Phan, to help destitute patients in Vietnam's National Cancer Institute, called K Hospital, which is located across the road from Allens' Hanoi office.
SympaMeals provides nutrition in the form of milk powder and free meal coupons to cancer patients at K Hospital, as well as paying for medical costs and fees not covered by health insurance, and covering living costs for patients in extremely difficult circumstances.
Allens is funding SympaMeals' milk powder distribution program to out-patients of K Hospital who cannot afford the US$1 a day charge for a hospital bed and so must live in slums far from the hospital or sleep on the street. SympaMeals assists these cancer patients by providing them with weekly tins of milk powder.
Photo: SympaMeals provides milk powder and coupons to people in need.