Community centre connecting carers

THE Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre is set to launch a Connecting Carers initiative.

BNC is one of 10 neighbourhood houses in Victoria taking part in the program, whose partners also include Carers Victoria, Drake International, and Jobs Victoria under the State Government’s $2 million Carers Employment Support Program.

The initiative aims to find jobs for carers returning to the workforce, and with $40,000 allocated to BNC, the centre’s executive officer Vicki Coltman said it will serve as a pilot for future support efforts.

“We’re going to see if we can find a number of carers, work with them and get them into jobs by the end of the year,” she said.

“In doing so, we can evaluate what the barriers are for them and how can we help overcome those barriers in a way that’s sustainable for their future.

“By putting the call out to people, we’re delivering it sort of differently to the others as a cross between a community development engagement project and an employment services project.”

The initiative is being led by BNC’s community development office who’ll coordinate with carers to find them work.

Ms Coltman said barriers to employment often include uncertainty around NDIS payments, scheduling conflicts and access to respite.

The program will run until the end of the year, and Ms Coltman said outcomes from the initiative will inform future plans.

“As we go through, we’ll be looking at ways to address some of the barriers we’re seeing and trialling various things throughout this year to see how we can solve them,” she said.

“Whether that means altering the timing of some of our offerings or designing specialised courses around some of these obstacles they’re facing, we’ll do what we can.”

To participate in the program, call 5329 3273.