Karinya House has been very fortunate to receive a $10,000 grant from the Vita Foundation.  Krystle, from Artisan Aesthetics Clinic at Bruce, part of the Vita Group, nominated Karinya House as a community grant recipient. We are still in shock that we were successful!  Krystle is pictured here with Sarah, Finance and Administration Officer  and Jo, Finance & Business Manager.

The grant will fund the Re-Ignite Life Long Learning and Employment Pilot Project and will support an innovative approach to developing the capacity and confidence of Karinya House women to access life long learning & employment opportunities. The approach will ensure that known barriers such as access to childcare are addressed and women are supported to reignite their learning passions.  Outcomes of the project will include strengthened and formal partnerships with relevant existing services.  The project also aims to Increase awareness amongst learning & employment providers around the specific barriers that young mothers in precarious living arrangements face when re-engaging with their learning passions.  The project seeks to ensure Karinya House women are supported to explore their learning passions on the journey to engaging with employment.

In the short term, an in-house guide and resource list will be developed, as well as linkages with external providers will be strengthened.

It is hoped that the initial impacts of the pilot project would support an application for ongoing funding for a full-time or part-time caseworker with specialisation in continuing education, alternate enabling pathways and life-long learning, with some scholarship support also available to support Karinya women. An ongoing program of this nature would cost $140,000 per annum.

Our sincere thanks to the Vita Foundation for supporting our funding application and enabling this pilot project to begin.