A small but dedicated group of Maddington locals gathered at Mission Australia’s Wattle House earlier this month to address community concerns and discuss how to improve their neighbourhood.
Representatives from local government, schools, and not-for-profit organisations, including Mission Australia, Centrecare, Communicare, Anglicare WA, and Youth Care, made up the group.
Mission Australia has selected Maddington and its surrounding suburbs as a ‘Community of Focus,’ committing to fund a place-based initiative aimed at working with and strengthening the community over the next 10 years.
The initiative includes funding to establish a local team that will work alongside Mission Australia to foster positive, long-term change in the community.
With Wattle House support services being open to the local community for more than 25 years, this will reinforce the charity’s presence in the area.
Collective Impact Facilitator Arlene Hand said the workshop identified significant needs but also great potential for community growth.
“The group discussed places of connection in Maddington, people connected to this place and permission to work in Maddington,” Ms Hand said.
“We left with a purpose to better understand young people’s safety, school engagement issues and sense of culture and belonging in Maddington.
Ms Hand said the effort to enhance Maddington for the better will be a collective one, building on the strengths already present in the community.
“A series of community forums are being planned with the intent to engage community services, government, business and industry in the conversations about what might need to change to keep young people safe, improve school engagement and enhance belonging for young people from all cultures.”
As part of this work, a youth reference group was also called for.
“As a collaborative, community-led, social change initiative, Community of Focus Maddington wants to put power back in the hands of the people to define how the issues might be best solved,” Ms Hand added.
“Young people who want to help co-design a Youth Voice for Maddington and residents and business owners in Maddington who are interested in engaging with the initiative are encouraged to reach out to us for next steps.”
