After more than 20 years working with school-aged students living on or around the Flemington public housing estate, Jesuit Social Services’ Homework Club program has built strong connections with the community surrounding those students.
That connection is most evident during the Homework Club’s Iftar event, now in its third year, when more than 100 program volunteer, students and their families come together during Ramadan to spend an evening together. Homework Club coordinator Patrick Weiniger says the event is a good opportunity for the volunteers and the staff to understand and have a better appreciation of the traditions of Ramadan.
“We have a call to prayer, and then we have dates and water, and falafel goes out before people have their main meal,” Patrick says.
“We try and do as many observances as we can, and I think it’s a good cross fertilisation of different communities, values and approaches.
“There’s also plenty of fun activities for the kids, this year we brought in facepainting and I think they were still lining up for it as we were trying to close up at the end of the night. Next year I think we’ll need two people doing it.”
Christian families involved with the Homework Club also had their cultural and religious needs catered for.
“The Muslim parents were very keen that they came and were made to feel very welcome. There was vegetarian, meat and dairy free food for them because those families were observing lent,” says Patrick.
For many of the families living in the public housing estate, it has been an uncertain year with the Victorian Government progressing plans to demolish towers around Melbourne.
“There is a well-established relationship with that community because we have been running the Homework Club for so long, and particularly the families are that are living in the Flemington towers,” says General Manager – Housing & Complex Needs Leanne Acreman.
“This is a period of change for them with the redevelopment of the tower, families are being moved and being relocated, so I think maintaining those connections is really important now especially.”
That community connection and integration that the Homework Club has is a key part of its success. Patrick says that almost every night he’s at Homework club, a new parent will come in and ask if their child can be involved.
“A lot of them, living in and around the flats, are connected in all different sorts of ways,” he says.
“It’s all through word of mouth within the community, that we have more people requesting to join than we can actually meet the needs of.”
