By Tania Phillips
It opened back in August after 18 months of hard work from the community and volunteers but for Protea Place Warwick the real work is just beginning.
New sub-committee member, well-known Warwick community member Tracy Vellacott said even though it had only been opened just on three months the centre, housed in the old Uniting Church manse building, is already proving to be a valuable community asset.
Protea Place Warwick, which receives no government funding and is open eight hours a week, aims to provide an additional layer of support to women experiencing homelessness, disadvantage, isolation, and domestic and family violence.
“It is up and running and it’s been going really well since our opening,” Tracy said.
“The numbers are increasing each week, which is unfortunate in one sense but the word is definitely getting out and other services are referring vulnerable women as well as the word-of-mouth referrals.
“We are only open eight hours a week across two days, so four hours each day and all of that is dependent, moving forward, on how much we can raise to not only keep operating at the existing level and possibly extend those services to more days.”
Protea Place is currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 2pm and lunch is served at noon.
While the centre does not offer on-site accommodation, one of its primary goals is to assist women in accessing housing solutions. Protea Place aims to provide practical support, including hot meals, laundry facilities, clothing, toiletries, and connections to relevant support services. The centre is there to offer a safe and caring environment where women can find respite and guidance during challenging times.
It is essentially a drop-in centre for vulnerable women.
“You have to knock on the door to be seen but at the moment we’re seeing approximately 15 women on-site in a week, potentially those numbers are increasing as the word gets out,” Tracy said.
“I guess it’s important to realise that each case is unique and complex and they require a lot of time and expertise from Jo our staff member to assist with, and achieve the outcomes that they need. This is particularly true with the way housing is in the current climate. There’s a big shortage in Warwick as there is in many regional communities or any communities really.”
The complexity of cases can require time as staff deal with anything from housing to DFV to mental health.
“Only being open eight hours per week across those two days means that we are trying to get through a high volume of complex work in a short amount of time,” Tracy explained.
“We are definitely seeing a lot of older women who are homeless and of course women who are homeless as a result of domestic violence.”
However, the centre is already having successes.
“One of the wins this week that Amanda (Toowoomba-based Protea Place’s founder and CEO) and Jo were really excited about was an elderly lady, who has been homeless and in her car for almost 12 months. She visited Protea Place Warwick for the first time on Tuesday and within just a few hours our team leader Jo had secured some safe and affordable accommodation for her.
“We talk about dignity, and Amanda said we were able to wrap her up in a massive amount of integrated dignity, housing and health support.”
And while the setting is up all done and dusted the centre is still on the fundraising bandwagon.
“We have secured funding to operate for our first 12 months but our on-going challenge is to raise those continual funds and awareness about the service, to be able to have longevity for this program in our community for those vulnerable women who need it,” she said.
“And while money to operate is always front of mind, we also love donations of toiletries, nonperishable food items, toilet paper, all of those sorts of things which help in the back end.
“The other great thing that Protea Place Toowoomba have is what they call Rent Sponsors. We’d ask if there is anyone out there or any businesses out there who’d love to come on-board as rent sponsors. It means that the rent is covered and the funding that would ordinarily be set aside for rent can be diverted to other parts of our program in Warwick.”
Of course support is continuing from the community and of the big things that the committee was super excited about in recent weeks the Warwick Show and Rodeo Society coming onboard during the rodeo and campdraft to run an art union initiative.
“The proceeds of that art union will go to Protea Place so there have been a lot of people out there selling art union tickets because the more we sold the greater the benefit to Protea Place,” the sub committee member said.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Warwick Show and Rodeo Society for choosing Protea Place as their inaugural Art Union recipient.”
As well as raising much needed funds, the Art Union has also been a great PR exercise, with the committee working with the Warwick Show and Rodeo Society to get the Protea Place organisation, messaging and what they do out into the community.
Representatives spent time at the bottom of the escalators at Rose City Shopping Centre in the lead-up to the rodeo selling art union tickets and talking to the general public about what the service provides and how it can help.
“I had a conversation with a lady, she really wanted to know what we were providing on the ground and I spoke about the dignity services,” Tracy said.
“We recognise that it’s not an answer as such (to homelessness), it’s not a shelter where people can stay but our team will work really hard so that we can try and find a solution to your housing issues.
“In the meantime, it’s that safe place to come, it’s that place to have a showers, wash clothes, have a hot meal, have companionship if you need it as well.
“Or there are beautiful spaces in the home to just break out and just be by your self if that’s what you need – some quiet time. The centre itself is very homely and gentle and quiet if you need it and there are clients coming through all the time, so perhaps there is a comrade there for some conversation as well.
“Amanda has said to me that Protea Place is there for women on probably one of the hardest days of their lives when they are having to acknowledge that they are in this situation and to put their hand up and ask for some help.”
So why did Tracy put up her hand to help?
“I recognise that there for the grace of god go, I live a fortunate life and I don’t have to deal with this but my empathy for the women who do, well I’m the greatest sook out,” she said.
“When you think organisations like Protea Place get no government funding, they have to rely a hundred percent on philanthropic support, grants or community donations. Why is our system this broken?
“I think that’s part of Protea Place’s success, there is a very real emotional attachment to what is going on in the ground in our communities. I take my hat off to the incredible work that Amanda and her team are doing in Toowoomba and Jo and the team in Warwick are doing. I’m very, very grateful and if I can play a little part along with the rest of the people in our sub committee and the Toowoomba committee – I guess our job in a way is to leverage the skills we have to try and help the organisation.”
If you want to help, go to the Proteaplace.org.au just click on the donate button where you can choose Warwick for either a one-off donation or there’s a possibly of doing a monthly pledge. Protea Place is a registered charity so donations are tax deductable. People are welcome to reach out to Jo Protea Place if they have toiletries or other donations. The email is Warwick@proteaplace.au.
“We have been very grateful for the Warwick Credit Union support, they’ve certainly taken us under their wing and were running community donation drops,” Tracey said.
And while Protea Place is moving forward Tracy said the centre was very grateful to every one who got the centre to where it is now.
“We owe a huge thank you to all of the individuals, the businesses, the community groups that have jumped onboard the Warwick Protea Place journey so far because the reason that there is this incredible place for women to go is because the initiative received love and support from the community,” she said.
“But as Amanda says we really need everyone to stay onboard, to keep supporting and advocating to their contacts to keep supporting Protea Place.”
