Winners of the 2004 Catholic Welfare Australia Awards

The Catholic Welfare Australia Awards provide a unique opportunity to herald the outstanding work of the social welfare sector in Australia and the calibre of this year’s nominations were no exception. The winners of the Catholic Welfare Australia Awards for 2004 are:

Award for Excellence in Service (Organisational)

St Vincent’s Adolescents Care, Marist Youth Care: This program offers medium to long-term residential care for boys who are unable or unwilling, for a time, to live with their families. The time in care provides a secure base from which the boy and the family can access a range of services to address their needs with the aim of either restoration of the boy to the family, or where this is not appropriate, to enable reconciliation with the family and a moving towards a more independent lifestyle.

Award for the Most Innovative Program – The Norma Parker Award

Young Person’s Community Care Program, Centacare Broken Bay: This program provides support, early intervention and respite to children/young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless because of a crisis or conflict at home. The program is quite distinctive and one of its kinds in New South Wales. Its success is based on three components: services are provided by a Youth Mentor who directly supports the young people themselves; services are provided by Family Support Workers who directly support the parents of the young person and Community carers provide respite.

Award for Excellence in Services (Individual) – The Perkins Award

Mr Thanh Van Nguyen:The winner of this award has been a volunteer community worker for more than twenty years. His dedication and commitment to service of others is deemed to be outstanding in the way he has served the community in various leadership roles with distinction and has always led by example. He founded the Vietnamese Catholic Youth Group in Marrickville, NSW which was primarily established to assist and support the newly arrived refugees from Vietnam and he continues to assist in this way through the Community Refugee Resettlement Scheme. He has also been an avid fundraiser for a variety of projects.

Special thanks are extended to CCI Insurances for their sponsorship of the Catholic Welfare Australia Awards.

For more information please call: Jackie Brady, Communications Officer, 0417 220 779