Our stories

Building a just society means elevating everyone by supporting all people to reach their full potential. Every success story is crucial because none of us can flourish, until we all do.

Partnership delivers results… and groceries
- 11 September 2018
Jesuit Social Services’ partnership with the parish of Our Lady of the Way in North Sydney continues to grow as parishioners respond to our appeal for support in Mount Druitt, Western Sydney. Rose happily receives items donated from the Our Lady of the Way parish Since 2015, the parish has conducted two appeals per year…
John Holland Pathway Program participants share their stories
- 30 July 2018
Participants of the John Holland Pathway Program, run by Jesuit Social Services and engineering, contracting and service provider John Holland, have shared their stories with ABC. Program participants Mamode Osikoye and Daniel Mabil. Credit: ABC News. The program, based on the successful African Australian Inclusion Program which Jesuit Social Services has operated with NAB since…
Pianos Are Us
- 22 May 2018
Pianos Are Us artist Tadros Hanna. Before emigrating to Australia from Egypt in 2015, Tadros Hanna worked as an architect and interior designer. When he found himself unable to practice his profession in his new country, he turned to visual art as way of making meaning and connection with his new community. Tadros received support…
The Cost of Freedom
- 10 April 2018
Eunhee, a participant in Jesuit Social Services Just Voices speakers program. Eunhee is a participant in our Just Voices speakers program. Here she reflects on her former life in North Korea and how things have changed for her since becoming a refugee in 2012. Freedom is a common word that is often used in our…
Generosity helps Western Sydney work grow
- 5 March 2018
Dave Hammond (centre) and staff from the Jesuit Social Services Ignite Food Store in Mount Druitt This year, we celebrate our 10th anniversary of working in New South Wales. Over the past decade, we have delivered a range of initiatives to communities in Mt Druitt and Emerton including the Ignite Food Store and Op Shop,…
‘When I have no one at home to help me, I can come here’
- 4 March 2018
Rachel, left, with students from the Homework Club. Each week, around 40 primary and secondary school students gather in Flemington. Some sit around computers to complete class work, and others work one-on-one with volunteer mentors to explore textbooks, assignments and essays. For more than 10 years, Jesuit Social Services’ Homework Club has provided support to…
No more borders or boundaries
- 2 March 2018
AAIP participant Rosi and her People Leader at NAB, Matt Rosi Matlhabaphiri-Quaremba’s resume featured a remarkable breadth of experience, including roles with the United Nations Population Fund and as a lecturer in communications. But after settling in Australia from her native Botswana, Rosi encountered significant and “emotionally taxing” challenges to securing corporate employment, applying unsuccessfully…
Relationship is key to supporting new arrivals
- 1 March 2018
Staff and participants at one of Jesuit Social Services’ Settlement programs. Relationship has been central to Jesuit Social Services’ work over our more than 40 years. Building trust and understanding is at the heart of our settlement work, which supports newly arrived people and families to make connections, links them in with services and programs,…
#fairgoforfamilies brings refugee voices to Canberra
- 19 December 2017
For many refugees living in our community the challenges of resettlement can be exacerbated by the trauma of long-term separation from their immediate family. Over the past year Jesuit Social Services, the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA) and the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) have collaborated to raise public awareness of this issue…
Stand Up for Human Rights
- 11 December 2017
Sunday 10 December marked the 69th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. As the declaration enters its 70th year, the United Nations has started a year long campaign to remind the global community of the need to #StandUp4HumanRights. The upcoming 70th anniversary of the proclamation is…

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