Wednesday, 4 March 2020
Members statements
Jesuit Social Services
Jesuit Social Services
Dr READ (Brunswick) (09:45): A high proportion of Victoria’s young criminal offenders have been affected by poverty, homelessness, neglect, abuse or intergenerational trauma. Fifty per cent of Victoria’s prisoners come from just 6 per cent of low-income Victorian postcodes. Thankfully some organisations are engaging with these vulnerable people to address the causes of their offending.
Jesuit Social Services are doing this in Brunswick while also addressing climate change, urban waste and sustainability. Their Ecological Justice Hub on Saxon Street in Brunswick has programs developing community-based energy, permaculture, ecological house design, recycling and seasonal planting, with food harvesting and cooking providing skills, training and employment support into green economy jobs for people experiencing barriers to employment. Participants work in the fruit and vegetable garden, providing food for Brunswick Uniting Church’s Olive Way kitchen, feeding people in need. Jesuit Social Services’ Ecological Justice Hub shows us a way of reducing criminal offending while building closer communities and addressing the pressing environmental problems we are facing.