UnitingCare will this month merge two of its northern community welfare agencies, Kildonan UnitingCare and UnitingCare Cutting Edge.
Kildonan UnitingCare is one of Australia’s oldest community organisations, dating from 1881. Chief executive Stella Avramopoulos said that in the past five years Kildonan had more than doubled in size, securing a reputation for delivering some of the most proactive, responsive and relevant community services in Victoria.
“Our programs target the issues that lead to financial hardship and personal or family breakdown. We tackle issues up front, before problems take hold or worsen,” she said. “Kildonan UnitingCare has a multi-pronged service delivery model which ensures, and will continue to ensure, that we tailor our responses to the needs of the communities we serve.”
Ms Avramopoulos, who will head the new combined agency, said the merger of the sister services would create a stronger community welfare organisation, able to deliver better services to more clients, with a geographical reach extending from metropolitan Melbourne to northern regional Victoria.
UnitingCare Cutting Edge (formerly Cutting Edge Youth Services) was established in 1996 to target the underserviced needs of young people in the Goulburn Valley.
Ms Avramopoulos said that during the past 18 years, ‘Cutting Edge’ had continued to strengthen its reputation in the rural north, providing services that empowered individuals, supported families and strengthened communities.
“This [merger] means that we have a range of flexible service delivery methods for children, youth and families,” Ms Avramopoulos said.
These will include phone advice, statewide education sessions for community groups, office-based appointments at its Epping, Broadmeadows, Reservoir and Heidelberg bases and outreach services, offering home and school visits across the metro north and around the state.
Ms Avramopoulos said the management boards of the two agencies had decided to merge to be in the best position to respond to the needs of its communities as the welfare sector faced significant policy shift and reform.
“Both agencies have a reputation for delivering innovative, proactive and relevant services that have been helping communities get ahead of their problems for years,” she said.
“Together, we will be able to deliver better services, more effectively, to more clients.”
The new organisation will adopt the Kildonan UnitingCare name.
