Norlane food relief program gets funding support

THE Norlane Community Centre will receive a $48,000 grant from the Victorian government to support the operation of its food relief program and weekly community meal for at least the next 12 months.

The centre offers these services to the local community for free, and without the funding support, these programs, which assist up to 70 people each week, would be unable to continue.

Norlane Community Centre chief executive officer Esther Koning-Oakes said some of the funds will be used to increase the centre’s offering of culturally diverse foods, as well as to investigate ways to better secure its food supply into the future.

“At the moment, we’re completing relying on food delivery centres and one of the issues is as the demand on them grows, that means that we get less because they have a limited quantity that has to be distributed over a larger amount of organisations,” Ms Koning-Oakes said.

“We still have an increasing number of people that are accessing our services here in Norlane, with less food because of the greater need always around.”

Among the initiatives being explored by the centre is a seed bank, which will enable the community to experiment with growing their own seasonal produce, and an ungated permaculture community garden that will be accessible to everyone in the area.

For the surrounding community, the importance of the Norlane Community Centre’s foodshare programs extends beyond just the provision of food, with empowerment a key tenant of each service.

Its community meal, for example, is based around an easy-to-cook recipe that locals are encouraged to take home and attempt themselves.

For some residents, this initiative has allowed them to increase their own self-reliance and, in turn, support other family members with homecooked meals.

“The philosophy that I do run the centre on is that if there is something the community wants, our job is to capacity-build people to do it for themselves,” Ms Koning-Oakes said.

“So if there are people in the community that feel there is a gap, or they have something that they feel would work in community, the best thing I do is thrown them a project plan and then we look at the resources that they need to achieve that.”

She thanked Lara MP Ella George for her ongoing support and for the impact the grant was going to have on the centre.

“We’re pretty excited about trying to capacity-build ourselves, because that’s what we try to do with our community.

“We’re constantly having to extend our resources and trying to just survive.”

Lara MP Ella George praised the Norlane Community Centre’s hard-working team for the support it provides to residents in Geelong’s northern suburbs.

“We know that the rising cost of living is hard for families and households, and this grant will help more people in Geelong’s north connect with Norlane Community Centre for food relief support,” she said.

“Community organisations like the Norlane Community Centre have the local knowledge and connections to best understand and respond to local needs, and to provide food relief where it’s needed most.”