Dear SICMAA’s Members, Friends
This year we celebrate 39 years services to our community. We are approaching our 40th Anniversary very quickly. 40 years of servicing the community will be a fantastic milestone to pass.
We would like to share with you all , our advisor Mrs.Merle Mitchell AM passed away on 20th September 2021.Merle was a truly remarkable person.She was compassionate, humble and tenacious advocate for justice, humanity and the disadvantaged in our community. She had left an undeletable mark on whoever she met, worked with and cared for.
It was a great privilege for me to know and worked with Merle since I came to Australia , Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau , Enterprise Hostel Project …
She was our Advisor , our community partner and our best friend for life.
It’s very sad and unfortunate that we all can not farewell her in person due to the lockdown.
She will be forever missed and remembered in our hearts, especially for those who associated with SCAAB.
Rest in Peace Merle. We love you and forever.
With the support from all bodies government funding, all our hard working staff , IT group, volunteers, we set up the system so everyone can work at home to continue to assist our client by phone,by email,by post,by video conferencing like Zoom.
One special Grants I would like to report to you is Volunteer Grant.
In 2020/2021, SICMAA received a Volunteer Grant of $5,000 under the Families and Community Programs. With this grant,SICMAA was able to establish,maintain and develop a group of Vietnamese women, carers, elderly, people with disabilities who are socially isolated and have very limited social connections.
The group meet weekly at SICMAA and participants have an opportunity to socialize,share knowledge and update information related to government services. Besides,volunteers from other organizations also come to our group in order to exchange experiences in voluntary works. Members of our group now become volunteers in community activities such as Clean Up Australia Day or Good Friday Appeal. From 20 members at the beginning, now we have 50 members who are volunteers in different program at Sicmaa. Members of this group now become leaders in recruiting and maintaining other small volunteer groups who are engaging in various programs at SICMAA including family support services,counselling Service,and English programs.SICMAA also engages members in voluntary work in business sector in order to enhance their employment aspects and explore new experiences .
This grant not only help SICMAA to raise awareness about voluntarism in the community but also assisted the disadvantaged Vietnamese people especially women to engage in positive activities in order to break isolation,develop motivation and strengthen harmony in the family and the community as a whole.
SIMAA has a dream 12 years ago until now, we love to set up a cooking school to introduce our Vietnamese cooking and exchange our Australian cuisines.
We hope one day with a strong support from the local government, business associations and volunteers we will achieve our goal.
Many years we thank and dedicate our love and thanks to our volunteers who give up their time with their families to lent us their knowledge, wisdom and expertise, and their love and compassion to help another human being to make this world a better place to live in.
Thank you for all your support and attending 2021 AGM.
We hope you enjoy this year’s AGM and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
BE HA OAM, JP
President
Springvale Indochinese Mutual Assistance Association
SICMAA 