Community develeopment - Assignment Example

1. A former legislative assembly member helped to moderate the discussion on the panel. 2. There was a doctor who was the head of the division of wellbeing, integrated care and ageing from the Department of Health. He shared information about the various medical facilities and services that were available throughout the region to homeless individuals. 3. One of the members was a public defender who was there to represent the legal interest of all indigent people in the community who cannot afford a lawyer. 4. There was also a member from the Flemington Presbyterian Church who brought forth information about the various services they provide for the homeless in their area. 5. Another member was a representative from the Adult and Family Homelessness Services (AFHS) which provides counselling, case management and outreach support to adults and families. 6. There was also a member from Stopover Youth Refuge which provides short-term crisis accommodation to single young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 7. Finally, there was also a representative of the Education Employment and Training Assistance (EET) program who brought forth her experience as a homeless person and helped in getting a better perspective of how a homeless person would view the programs and services made available to them.

She is now working with EET to assist other homeless individuals in coming out of their situation. Process used to operate the meeting This meeting was called together by the members of the community forum to create awareness in the community about the issue of homelessness in the region. The meeting began with the moderator asking the members on the panel to introduce themselves. Following the introductions, the highlights of the previous community forum was read and approved. There were a few persisting issues like inadequate funding and lack of awareness in the community that were addressed during the meeting.

An excerpt from the award-winning ‘Home Safe’ documentary was also shown during the meeting. The moderator presented the findings from a study conducted by the Victorian Council of Social Service and Housing Alliance Victoria which revealed that more than a third of Victoria’s homeless people who sought help in the past year were denied due to lack of funding. The report revealed that 11,678 people were turned away from homeless assistance services in 2003-04, while 31,359 people received help (The International Homeless Forum 2004).

Various strategies to address this issue were discussed by the members in the panel. Light refreshments were served at the end of the meeting. Goals of the community forum The goal of this forum was to increase community awareness, gather community input and identify and develop sustainable solutions to address the issues surrounding homelessness in the city of Melbourne, Victoria. To achieve this goal, the attendees were provided information about what homelessness looks like in the city of Melbourne - addressing the various problems that homeless individuals face such as mental and physical health problems, addictions, lack of education, and other barriers to employment and housing.

The various members of the forum presented the services that they offer and discussed the strengths and