The Women's Community Centre of South Australia is a unique, robust and enduring Community Service. For over 40 years it has been providing effective, dynamic services that enable women to follow a variety of pathways appropriate to their needs and increase their participation and empowerment in all sectors of society.

Currently as a unfunded community organisation, the Centre continues to service the community as a completely volunteer based organisation through many fund raisers events, an OP shop (open 6 days a week), monthly garage sale and plant sale. A small fee is charged for the programs.

The Centre provides and maintains a range of integrated high quality services which are responsive to the needs of women who are socially isolated and cannot fully participate in the Community due to family and carer responsibilities, disability, language or cultural barriers, unemployment and financial disadvantage, personal trauma such as DV, illness and family breakdown. The Centre's commitment to Social Inclusion is demonstrated through encouraging these diverse groups of women to shape and run programs appropriate to their own needs. These early intervention and prevention startegies are highly beneficial and raise women's awareness of social justice and health issues, and creating pathways to employment and other positive outcomes.

Our current goal is to raise funds to further assist the Women of South Australia through the ongoing provision of programs and Services that are vital initiatives for the women of South Australia. Funds raised will provide worthwhile and tangible outcomes for many disadvantaged and marginalised women in the community whilst assisting the Women's Community Centre go from surving to striving into the future

How will the funds be used?

According to the survey of the Centre members in May 2015, 70% of the Centre users had income below $40,000 per annum and 50% had income below $20,000 per annum. Many of these women struggle to pay for the programs offered eventhough the costs are extremely low. The Centre is seeking ways to reduce the cost of the programs and meals  to make it more affordable for these women.

Key areas of expenditure for funds donated will be to assist the Women's Community Centre with:

• Further provision of educational, recreational and personal development programs for the Women of South Australia;
• Purchase of much needed equipment to assist our office/ reception, kitchen and community garden;
• Operational Costs: help our Service go from Survivng to Striving into the Future;
• Volunteer Program: Help us to provide more women in the Community with Volunteer roles. This requires funds to purchase equipment, training and staff assistance;
• Affordable Healthy meals Program: Help us provide our volunteers and members who are financially stretched with one healthy cooked meal while working at the Centre.
• Further assist the women of South Australia with Health and Fitness Activities, Information and Referral Services, Counselling and Holistic Healing and Legal Service.

Here are some examples of what your donation could help us provide:

• $10 would help us grow another vegetable in our garden
• $20 would help one chronically ill women to have a 1 hour wholistic healing session.
• $35 would provide an Instructor for a class for one hour of volunteer training or our participants.
• $40 would provide food for approximately 20 women from low socio economic situation attending our weekly program.
• $60 will enable us to assist one woman with participating in English, sewing, jewellery or home maintenance for a whole term,
• $120 would enable us purchase a wine barrel to grow another fruit tree,
• $500 would help pay our one month's public liability Insurance or rent,
• $1200 would fund our Volunteer Program for an entire three months and enable us to increase our Volunteer Training Program which assists women transition into employment and further education or to run a whole term of wellbeing programs for our participants,
• $4800 will help fund 4 Terms of Computer Skills for two hours each week upto 80 women a year. This is a much need skill for the many women who did not complete their school, older women and migrants/refugees with limited english

All donations will be gratefully received and acknoweldged.