WHO WE HELP

Medical Wings 2.0

Region - All regions

Building from the success of the previously funded program, Medical Wings, Medical Wings 2.0 will reach 750 children in need of specialist care close to home, alleviating the need to travel to major hospitals and improving the standard of care for already marginalised families.

The extension will meet community demand and conduct a formal social impact report to demonstrate the social/economic impact of the program with the aim of achieving future sustainability. This $60,000 grant will see Little Wings fly up to four (4) healthcare workers and equipment on 30 occasions to regional communities and deliver remote clinics.

Depending on availability, these clinics will remain for 1-3 days, treating children with serious medical conditions that can no longer delay treatment or travel due to compromised immune systems or medical vulnerabilities.

Each clinic can see between 25-50 children per day. This will lead to increased health outcomes and confidence through improving health literacy for regional and remote people.

Keeping Kids Connected at Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington

Region - Central West

SHINE for Kids provides a positive happy and safe environment for children to visit their parent who is in custody at Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington.

The Keeping Kids Connected Program helps children to build a positive relationship with their incarcerated parent, improve their emotional, psychological and physical well-being and reduce the isolation, stigma, anxiety and stress felt while their parent is in custody.

This $60,000 grant will be used to employ and train a Child and Family Coordinator, facilitate, and to buy program resources including arts and crafts materials, for children to undertake with their parent.

VRE for Carers:
Virtual Reality equipment and immersive VR education for caregivers (carers/family/health professionals) of people living with dementia

Region - Hunter

Dementia Australia provides training that bridges the skills gap in caregivers so they are able to better meet the needs of, and increase the overall standard of living for people living with dementia.

This $43,000 grant will be used to purchase virtual reality equipment for experiential learning technology EDIE (Educational Dementia Immersive Experience), which provides training for carers that will enable them to experience what it is like to live with dementia.

The program involves one on one consultations, exploring the specific needs of families and caregivers as well as immersive workshop sessions in small groups using the Oculus Virtual Reality equipment, for the purpose of immersive learning.

The high-quality virtual-reality experience enables family members, carers and health professionals to see the world through the eyes of a person living with dementia through character immersion.

See-Be the Robot Service for Sick Kids

Region - All regions

MissingSchool’s See-Be the Robot Service for Sick Kids, supports children with serious illness to dial in to class from hospital or home. Young people who miss school often or for long periods, can potentially fall behind academically and experience isolation from their school communities leaving lifelong effects on productivity, and social and emotional wellbeing.

This $50,000 grant will help improve wellbeing and academic outcomes for sick and injured children by maintaining their connection with their school when they are absent and helps to normalise a critical period in their life, and gives them a chance to be “just kids” rather than patients.

Telepresence allows kids who are away from school to be seen and heard in their classrooms, and learn from their teachers with their classmates.

Smile & Thrive Dental Program

Region - Hunter

LIVEfree Project is a charity that helps families who have experienced severe hardship, through family violence, drug abuse or poverty. Their funded project delivers a practical and scalable place-based community health initiative.

Smile and Thrive is a program for vulnerable primary school students, where LIVEfree facilitates regular dental appointments in partnership with local schools, with the goal of promoting positive dental hygiene and healthy behaviours for the child and their family.

The Smile and Thrive program has run on a very small scale for three years and so far, over 150 people have been positively impacted in the Newcastle local community through better dental health and school performance.

This $44,000 grant will help scale up this high potential project to reach more than 1000 young people in need of the service. By promoting positive dental hygiene, healthy behaviours and social connections, Smile and Thrive can lead to stronger and healthier students thriving in their school and home life.

We Care Hunter

Region - Hunter

We Care Connect’s volunteer led model delivers a practical, in-demand service that benefits families in poverty through the provision of high quality essential childhood equipment and supplies, linked to a network of agencies and case workers.

We Care Connect have established a Hunter hub to mirror the success of its Central Coast operations.

The project will use this $70,000 grant to set up a sustainable operation to support Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the lower Hunter.

SeeMore eSafety

Region - All regions

Since 1993, the KIDS Foundation has been dedicated to keeping our children safe and supporting those who have experienced horrific injuries and trauma caused by burns, accidents, dog attacks, crime, neglect, abuse and environmental events.

A major issue currently concerning the safety of our regional NSW children is digital technology, and the creation of new divides that prevent them from fulfilling their potential. These online risks may make already vulnerable children more susceptible to exploitation and abuse.

To address this issue and keep children safe both off and online, KIDS Foundation has initiated their SeeMore eSafety program and will use this $90,000 grant to educate children on how to safely navigate online and real-life environments.

Community Bound

Region - New England

Sunnyfield is a member-based, not-for-profit that helps create brighter futures for individuals with intellectual disabilities. They operate across 29 NSW locations, providing accommodation, care-at-home, community, support coordination and employment based services.

Since its establishment in 1951, Sunnyfield has helped people with disability have every opportunity to learn, work, make friends, have fun and access all of the support they need to live a fulfilling life of their choosing.

The Community Bound project aims to address the lack of access that disabled people in Armidale have to appropriate modes of transport. Because of this, these individuals have extremely limited opportunities to go out and experience social connection within their community, resulting in further loneliness and social isolation.

Sunnyfield is building a new services hub in Armidale and this $85,000 grant will support the local disability community with transport services that will increase the reach and impact of the hub investment.

M.A.D Food Trailer

Region - Mid North Coast

Make a Difference PMQ is a grass roots charity organisation based in Port Macquarie.Their primary mission is to extend much needed support to disadvantaged and marginalised individuals residing in the Mid North Coast Community.

They provide emergency assistance and connect vulnerable people with social services and support to help restore dignity, pride, and hope. They are locals supporting locals, and changing lives for the better.

This $33,000 grant will help provide a practical response to issues relating to homelessness in the port Macquarie community and further increases the local community’s capacity to respond to ongoing need and also natural disasters. The organisation’s Food Trailer project aims to address the complete lack of food services available to people in the community who face disadvantage.

By providing a free, fresh, nutritious and easily accessible food service to those most in need, Make a Difference can ultimately improve diet and mental and physical health, as well as enhance sense of connection to the community restoring wellbeing, dignity and pride.

Taree District Volunteer Family Connect

Region - Mid North Coast

Karitane is a respected and trusted service leader in parenting services across NSW. They provide accessible, evidence based services that aim to support families and individuals to parent confidently.

Karitane Taree District Volunteer Family Connect program aims to address the social isolation and poor mental health outcomes for parents of young children in the Taree and Manning Valley region.

This $112,000 grant will help provide ongoing support through a team of trained volunteers to parents of youth children from disadvantaged communities in the Manning Valley region, who are at an extremely high risk of geographic and social isolation.

Through consistent practical and emotional support, parents of young children are able to feel more confident in their parenting skills and improve overall mental health and sense of social connectedness.

NPCF - CEF Flood Support Scholarships

Region - Mid North Coast

Country Education Foundation (CEF) is a national not-for-profit organisation helping rural and regional youth access education, training and jobs through grants, scholarships, financial support services and resources.

Recent flooding and other natural disasters continues to impact marginalised young people, including schooling and access to post school education.

With this $33,000 grant, CEF have introduced the Flood Support Scholarships project, which aims to increase
successful participation in post-school education for students in the flood affected areas of Macleay Valley, Hastings and Great Lakes.

The scholarships will ensure that students in these areas have access to the education required to fulfil their career goals and aspirations, all whilst reducing the financial burden of post school study on their flood affected families.

Using Technology to expand dental and medical services to disadvantaged rural and regional communities in NSW.

Region - Hunter

Rural and Remote Medical Services Ltd (RARMS) is an Australian health charity dedicated to helping disadvantaged, rural and remote communities build sustainable health and medical care that is responsive to their needs and priorities.

Since establishment in 2001, they have supported the health of more than 15 vulnerable communities, in addition to expanding the skill and expertise of local health staff by providing jobs across newly established medical centres.

Across NSW, hundreds of individuals across rural and regional communities currently have inequitable access to appropriate healthcare.

This $120,000 grant will help RARMS deliver integrated health and medical solutions to help these communities gain regular and reliable access to the high quality dental and medical services that they need with the use of innovative medical technologies.