A break for Mums on the brink

Julia Roache from Geelong Mums knows more than anyone that a child’s car seat is so much more than a piece of equipment.

“Having a car seat means parents have a way to get to doctor’s appointments, to see family and friends and to connect with their community,” Julia says. “We’re not changing systematic poverty at Geelong Mums, but we are bridging the gap and alleviating one social and financial burden on parents and that’s a big deal.”

But it’s not just car seats. Geelong Mums provides a range of equipment to struggling families including cots and prams. “You can spend $1000 on a cot, pram and car seat in IKEA. That’s just not feasible for some families,” Julia says. “But if they can have this equipment provided to them it means they don’t have to choose between that and paying rent or feeding their children that week.”

The Geelong Mums Mother’s Day appeal is particularly close to Julia’s heart. “We ask the community to donate toiletry packs with the basics and include one or more special gifts for mum, life perfume,” she explains. “Social workers then give them to kids to give to their mums on Mother’s Day.

“What it means to those families is huge. It empowers the kids and means a mother who might never have been given a gift from their child before can experience that joy.”

Geelong Mums recently received a $28,000 grant from the Geelong Community Foundation to provide support to access cots, beds and linen for vulnerable families and using volunteers, safety check, clean and distribute suitable safe sleeping equipment to families in crisis for their babies and small children.

Struggling families is a priority need area for the Geelong Community Foundation. This grant was one of 54 grants distributed this year, totalling over $1 million to community organisations across the region. The Geelong Community Foundation’s grant program has been achieved by donations, gifts in wills and our investment performance.