Did you know there are more neighbourhood houses in Victoria than McDonalds stores?

Our peak body NHVic published this statistic last week. And I think to many it’s a bit of a surprise. Maybe our 400+ houses 🏡 need bigger signs … or a Happy Meal deal.

This week is neighbourhood house week - an opportunity to reflect on our sector’s collective contribution to local community.

Like Maccas, our houses are lean delivery machines - we have tight budgets and economic efficiency is at our core. We seek grants to boost our coffers, work in partnerships with local organisations to stretch our reach, and rely on volunteers and community goodwill to deliver services well beyond our paid capacity.

Like Maccas we’re definitely family friendly. We anticipate that adults are going to rock up with children in tow. We expect it will be the norm rather than the exception. And so we have play spaces and toys available. But we also offer other practical support for families - through playgroups and toy libraries, family yoga, and after-school Lego clubs, music lessons etc. Some houses have occasional care and full school holiday programs. Some are linked to maternal and child health care services.

Yes, like Maccas food is part of our core business. We understand firstly that food is essential. And secondly, that it is a way to bring people together. Across neighbourhood houses we offer community meals (lunches and morning teas), take-home meals and essential food relief packages. We also focus on community cooking experiences, nutrition education and sustainable food systems. We use multiple mechanisms to ensure that people in the community have secure access to good quality food.

However we’re also into more than food. Because good food is just one part of the package of living well … so we try to ensure that people are safe, secure, and connected, whilst keeping fit and active, engaged with nature and continuing to learn and grow throughout life.

Like Maccas we are pretty focussed on customer service. We try to be welcoming, polite, friendly, positive and helpful. We want our customers to return again and again. But … we also stop to chat and recognise each person as an individual. We make friends with people. And we try to help them find just the right place within the context of their community (what I am saying is we work hard to help people find their tribe).

On a day-to-day level we run programs and activities and garner support to help the people who are the most vulnerable - those who feel lonely or disconnected, those that are new to the neighbourhood, older, disabled, or facing significant life challenges. We design and foster experiences and environments to help them establish the local connections and reliable networks they need to live a good life.

Unlike Maccas, (fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be) neighbourhood houses don’t all look the same … and we don’t have a uniform. Our staff and our organisations come in all shapes and sizes. Because our houses reflect their neighbourhood, and more likely than not, the edges of that neighbourhood. Mostly houses emerged from grassroots women’s organisations, and the ‘house’ is actually the old unused or abandoned church hall, scout hall, maternal and child health centre or rates office, tucked away next to the train line or adjacent to the community swimming pool.

So, unlike Maccas, most neighbourhood houses are not front and centre on the main drag of town.

But … next time when you are travelling around Victoria and notice the golden arches on the most prominent corner, perhaps you could also look out for the small street sign that points you to the nearest neighbourhood house. Because a neighbourhood house or two is, statistically speaking, pretty likely to be close by - bustling away in the back streets, welcoming local individuals and building community connections. Strengthening neighbourhoods and helping people to live well.

It really has been a fruity gardening week or two here at ACC. We’ve had lots of posts relating to gardening.

And the latest thing on our radar is medlars … have you ever heard of them?

Fairfield neighbour Bernie, who has come along to Preserves Group in the past, contacted us with a donation of some medlars - a fruit that looks a lot like a big rosehip and that tastes quite a lot like very ripe apricot (I think anyway).

Along with the fruit she gave us a recipe to make medlar jelly which, a bit like quince jelly, will have a lovely floral scent. And she also explained the process of bletting - where we have to leave the fruit out for a couple of weeks to go really soft and squishy, just like you would with a persimmon.

It is quite bizarre, because they are ready to eat when they look quite brown and rotten … but the skin peels off easily and they actually taste quite nice. Bernie says she often just eats them with cheese and biscuits at this point, and I can imagine this would be quite delicious.

If you are interested in finding out more about this unusual and ancient fruit, which has been around since Roman times, you can check them out on the bench in room 2 if you are passing by … they’re in some wooden trays under a cloth doing the bletting thing - take a peek.

Or let us know if you’d like to be involved in the day of jelly making … it will probably be on Friday morning this week or next (when the fruit is ripe enough to use).

Email us here if you are keen to join in. And thanks Bernie for the fruit donation and education!

Our little houses are jam packed with plants and seeds and books. Make the most of the glorious autumnal days with a neighbourhood walk - and pop past ACC to enjoy some community sharing and caring! ❤️

A lovely photo of Anne starting the process of planting up our new garden bed from last week. We’ve got a dwarf lime for the centre of this bed, and then we’re filling it up around the edges with herbs - parsley, sage and oregano. Under the lime we’ll put some shallow root flowers to add a bit of colourful cheer like nasturtiums and alyssum.

The back two beds will have a clump or two of permanent plants like heritage rhubarb (this donation from our friend Mark has struggled along out on the front nature strip) and pineapple sage (ideal for neighbourhood cocktails hey friends …) and then some leafy greens and other crops that we’ll rotate through seasonally - for cooking and salads etc.

Fun hey? We’re also in the process of putting in a little seed raising greenhouse and potting station.

So if you are interested and would like to do something community minded and outdoorsy on a Friday morning - you might like to join us in the garden. Come along from 10am. We’ll reward your hard work with morning tea at 11.30am!

Note this week we’ll be planting out these beds AND spreading tan bark. So all muscled-wheel-barrow-friendly-folk are particularly welcome!

Did you know that Yarra and Darebin have a long standing community relationship along with a formal partnership with the municipality of Baucau in Timor-Leste?

The friendship was established whilst Timor-Leste was fighting for independence back in the 1990s. And it has endured over time. For many years our Councils funded a neighbourhood house in the city of Baucau. This was a wonderful and vital resource for women, children and the broader community as the country rebuilt infrastructure and resources after the devastation caused by the fight for independence. And although the house itself shut down a few years ago, it seeded a number of enduring community organisations - and enabled a number of strong and active local women (in particular, but some men also) to build a platform and profile within the Baucau municipal government.

Darebin and Yarra Councils continue their relationship with Baucau today, and still support grassroots activities via the community friendship group - Friends of Baucau. Over the years this local community group (that meets monthly in Darebin and Yarra) has continued to advocate for the formal municipal partnership, fundraise for on-ground community initiatives and build strong enduring and trusted relationships in Baucau. The focus recently has been on empowering women, supporting education and helping communities build best practise for sustainable agriculture. In the last few years they encouraged Darebin’s neighbourhood houses to visit Baucau (I was lucky enough to go on this trip) to meet like-minded active women’s organisations over there and think about how we could build and grow partnerships at the grassroots level.

So with this personal connection, it really has been devastating to see and hear about the impacts of the recent cyclone and associated flooding on the community over there. Timor-Leste is the poorest country in our region, with people living on less than $1 a day.

And if you are living at or below the poverty line like this, losing your house, your possessions, your bed and/or your crops is devastatingly life changing - and not just immediately, but for many years to come.

So … Friends of Baucau has set up a Give Now page, to support a trusted local community organisation to help out locals across the Baucau municipality at this time.

The funding will help families buy the basics to continue to survive such as food, beds etc. But also help them replant crops. It will also give those most in need 2 goats to grow and sell, helping them to rebuild their ability to self-sustain with dignity once again.

If you’d like to contribute you can find out more here. If you’d like more information about Friends of Baucau you can check them out on Facebook here.

Damage to houses in the municipality of Baucau.