Southern Peninsula Community Support
Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (09:56): Last week I attended the Southern Peninsula Community Support annual general meeting, and it was an absolute full house. There were those on the board, members, volunteers and friends of Southern Peninsula Community Support. It is incredible work they do and hats off to all involved there: family support; help with bills, budgeting and income; and NILS, the no-interest loan scheme, that enables families to get simple things they need around the house, whether it is whitegoods or a car, without them racking up further debt just to get the basics that they need. They also keep people in their homes with their support. There is such a big team for support, and there are so many rooms. They are engaging all their volunteers to help the community in so many ways. Fresh food – there is an incredible team ensuring that packs of food are going out to the community on a daily basis and it is equitable in its nature. They are ensuring there is a fair spread of good-quality food. Everybody that comes in walks away with food that they can go home and cook a nutritious meal at home with. Their crisis support for homelessness is incredibly impressive with the work they are doing, whether it is ensuring people have something to sleep in at the foreshore – a tent or a swag or something along those lines – or the SPLaSh program, the southern peninsula laundry and shower program, or with the mobile showers and washing machines to ensure that people can go in and have a shower, get freshened up and get on with their lives. I just want to again acknowledge everybody and the incredible work they are doing to keep people in their homes going well and support people that are in crisis and without one.