General News
9 February, 2023
Maryborough Assistance Centre launched by Vinnies
Maryborough’s former Vinnies op shop has been given a new lease on life, reopening its doors as a centre to provide assistance to locals in need, this week. Members of the St Vincent De Paul Maryborough Conference, Vinnies officials and local...
Maryborough’s former Vinnies op shop has been given a new lease on life, reopening its doors as a centre to provide assistance to locals in need, this week.
Members of the St Vincent De Paul Maryborough Conference, Vinnies officials and local residents gathered at the former op shop at 54 High Street for the official opening and blessing on Wednesday morning.
The site has been dormant since May last year, when the op shop relocated to 148 High Street, Maryborough, and will now provide support to residents in need.
Vinnies Maryborough Conference president Kerry Cameron said the centre is designed not to give people hand outs, but rather a “hand up”.
“This space will be used as an assistance centre for people who have welfare needs,” she said.
“The idea of this centre is to give people a hand up, not a hand out — so we’re trying not to have people coming in just to receive hand outs, we want to come up with a plan on how to help individuals and the support they need moving forward.
“That support will be for a rangeof people, from young ones who have moved to town and don’t have any family and for older people who need us to advocate to electricity and gas companies to negotiate payment plans for their bills.”
Mrs Cameron said the centre’s opening was an important step for the community.
“Often people just need to have a conversation and speak with someone about what they’re experiencing, and that’s something we’re here for,” she said.
“As well as the assistance we offer, we’ll also provide personal packs for people who are going to hospital or living rough.
“We’ve got a set up so we can work with Zonta on their breast cushion workshops and we will allow community groups to come and hold meetings and use the space as well.”
Almost 50 years since the building was first donated to Vinnies, St Vincent De Paul’s Wimmera Conference president Chris Hogan said the assistance centre’s opening was a success for the community.
“This building was bought by some members back in 1974 and was donated to the society,” he said.
“When the process of what we were going to do with the building started it was pretty big, there were a lot of factors behind the scenes that had to play out — this is a process that’s been 10 or 12 years in the making.
“The conference members decided it was important to keep this building going and utilise it as an ongoing legacy of those members who donated it.
“We want people to feel comfortable enough to be able to come in, sit down and relax because coming in to get material aid is not an easy thing to do when you’re going through a challenging part of life.”
The assistance centre will be open on Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 10 am until 12.30 pm, and from 1.30 until 4 pm on Thursday’s. For more information or to make an appointment, call 5461-1074.