By Violet Li
A highly sought community service in Casey is concerned about its future with great difficulty in securing grant funding.
Nas Recovery Centre, launched in August 2023 and run by volunteers, provides a culturally sensitive approach to drug and alcohol rehabilitation and mental health support.
According to director Nyachan Nyak, the organisation was established out of a huge gap and demand in Casey. In nearly a year, it has seen 164 people attending its group therapies, 34 clients specifically for one-on-one counselling, and 11 people going into rehab after the support.
While the organisation is determined to help the community in need, the financial burden has been an obstacle for it to forage ahead.
The organisation received pilot funding last year from the Department of Justice and Community Safety, which was run out before June this year.
“We use it to rent. We use it to pay for catering. We use it to pay clients’ medications,” Ms Nyak said.
“We’ve got no funding at the moment.
“I’m always writing grant applications, looking for grants, searching what grants are available, which is taking too much of our time, the time I could use to provide more counselling, more referrals, more linking, more culture training.
“We’re using the grants to try to sustain us and stay afloat. We need an investment from the Federal or the State.”
Ms Nyak said she had written multiple advocacy letters to relevant departments, but she hadn’t heard anything back. She also met with many local MPs to seek additional support.
Cranbourne MP Pauline Richards said: “Nas Recovery Centre is a remarkable community-led organisation, and I will continue to advocate to the Minister for Youth Justice on their behalf.
“The Victorian Government is engaging with Nas Recovery Centre on a range of initiatives, including those related to their funding needs.”
Holt MP Cassandra Fernando said she visited the Nas Recovery Centre last year and witnessed firsthand the excellent work that both the Centre and Nyachan Nyak were doing for the community.
“The Australian Government is committed to building safe and healthy communities by reducing the impact of drug and alcohol misuse,” she said.
“In support of this commitment, the government is ensuring the certainty of funding for alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services through the Primary Health Networks.”
Casey Council highlighted the “funding constraints” experienced by Nas Recovery Centre at the State and Federal levels in a submission to the State Government’s Inquiry into Local Government funding and services.
The organisation had to approach the Council to seek support for subsidised rental options for Council facilities.
Ms Nyak has also been concerned that the desperate absence of grant funding could make the organisation lose its existing facility as the lease will soon be finished.
“The community-based model is the way. Instead of locking people away to learn how to change, we want to support people within their homes, within their families, how to lead with these challenges that anyone can experience,” Ms Nyak said.
“Culturally responsive service is what people trust and what people want to see more of.
“All the professionals that work here are bilingual and people from those cultural backgrounds. Someone will walk in, and they will meet someone who either looks like them speaks the same language as them or understands the same resettlement issues, racism issues, discrimination, lack of employment, and language barrier as them.
“We’re not only providing that reassurance, but we’re also using our lived experiences to uplift our community. We also have the expertise that we know it’s an evidence-based model on how we meet the needs of people in a culture.”
The State Government established the South Sudanese Australian Youth Justice Expert Working Group in 2022, and has delivered a grant program to support community-led projects.
In the selection of recipients, priority has been given to projects that aim to prevent and reduce contact by South Sudanese Australian children and young people with the criminal justice system.
Nas’ Recovery Centre’s Path2Home project was supported by funding from the first round of Expert Working Group Grants, to deliver culturally informed alcohol and other drug services and mental health treatment services.
A Department of Justice and Community Service spokesperson said they were currently finalising the recipients for the final round of grant funding.
“As part of addressing the over-representation of African-Australian young people in the youth justice system, we work closely with many organisations to support them with life-changing services,” the spokesperson said.
“We will have more to say in the coming weeks.”
