The provision of hope is a priority for Moree mental health support service Flourish Australia as they open new and expanded facilities this Friday, just in time for October’s Mental Health Month.
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“As our service was growing here in Moree, the need for a new headquarters was just so important,” Flourish Australia Moree manager Claire Gillan said.
The service, formerly known as RichmondRPA, has moved into 6/25 Auburn Street for more elbow room and the same safe place for residents.
“We identified this space which has an excellent work are for the staff and then this whole other area with as an activity room which we called the Hub, which we’re able to deliver more effective support services out of that space,” Ms Gillan said.
The service will celebrate the move at the new premises tomorrow from 10.30am-1.30pm for other Moree service providers, and local residents accessing services.
Flourish currently supports about 40 Moree district residents though their journey toward recovery. Flourish national spokesperson Matthew Watson said the Hub is a secure space for people who may want to share time with people quietly, or actively look for solutions to life challenges.
He said the Hub creates an environment for clients to have a conversation about employment, education, medication and life choices.
“It can be so isolating and stigmatizing when you have a mental health issue, so this is a bit of a launch pad,” he said. “In rural areas you just don’t get the same amount of support.”
It can be so isolating and stigmatizing when you have a mental health issue, so this is a bit of a launch pad.
- Matthew Watson
Matthew said as one in two people will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime, and having peer support can normalise a person’s experience, to make them feel less alone.
“We have staff on board who have lived experience, and they are called peer workers,” Ms Gillan explained.
“They oftentimes have qualifications, just as much as our mental health workers do, but they’re actually acknowledging they have a lived experience as well.
“That allows them to have an empathy to as they walk alongside people who access our service.”
She felt it was positive people could identify an organisation as a place to seek assistance in a tough time.
“And I know that I’ll get safe secure support that provides hope for me, and we’re very much a hopeful organisation,” Ms Gillan said.
“We like to encourage people to identify goals for the future and we support them in working towards that; we journey alongside them.”
Michèle Jedlicka
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