The South Sudanese Christian Welfare Association will receive $80,000 to deliver important programs in its community.
The funding comes from the state government’s Supporting South Sudanese Australian Communities 2024-25 Grant.
Bishop David Manyok said he was “very happy” and that this would help the organisation to empower and educate youth and parents.
“The funding is meant to support South Sudanese families … and now we will deliver more services in Melton,” he said.
Support worker Chol Agany said the grant was significant.
“It’s fantastic for us … the community will be better for the support,” he said.
“We have a lot of elderly people and young people who can benefit from our programs.”
Among these programs are the group’s positive parenting sessions, which help connect families with resources and knowledge on how to improve communication and relations at home.
Co-ordinator Anyuat Kur said it was important to address the problems happening in homes and reinforce positive behaviour.
“A lot of issues that South Sudanese families have is from parenting … so what we do is hire councillors and parenting practitioners to come and talk to families,” he said.
“When we do these sessions the parents improve their skills and learn how they can help young people.”
The funding will also support the running of cultural workshops.
“Activities involve the whole community coming together and singing and dancing … are popular amongst young people,” Mr Kur said.
There were two other organisations that received funding from the grant – the African Youth Initiative, who secured $85,000, and the Sudanese Mothers Coalition, who received $20,000.
