Intro

Family, Women & Children Support Services
Aspirations • Safety • Equality

Micah Projects has 15 years experience advocating for vulnerable families and supporting them to secure housing, strengthen their parenting and be included in community life. We recognise the unique composition and characteristics of families - including their unique strengths and aspirations; their vulnerabilities and needs; and their goals for their future. We particularly recognise the unique challenges and aspirations of young women who are parents.

In 1993 a group of young parenting women were supported by Queensland Government through Queensland Health to undertake a participatory action research project which explored the links between gender and violence in the lives of young mothers. This research found that young parenting women access information from their peers and the most effective way of providing information to young parenting women was to provide it through their peers. Micah Projects with the support of donors, including the St Mary’s Community and one-off grants, undertook a series of workshops looking at: Respectful Relationships, Domestic Violence, Access to Education, Family Support, Leadership, Early Childhood and Parenting. The organisation benefitted from the enormous contribution of many young women to informing the service model. The model’s focus became with a prevention and early intervention, so as to resource young women to meet their aspirations for themselves, their children and their partners. The evaluation of these projects also informed the service model.

The lessons and experiences with young women and their families have provided a foundation for all family support inniatives undertaken by Micah Projects. In 2005 Micah Projects received a grant from the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) to undertake a demonstration project with families who have experienced significant periods of homelessness. This project, called Homelessness to Home, was evaluated and provided the organisation with further direction for the implementation of the Family Crisis and Homelessness Prevention services to families in Brisbane at risk of homelessness.

At Micah Projects we focus on working respectfully with families by listening, outreaching, building relationships, developing understanding, creating realistic plans and working together to provide opportunities for women, their children and partners to achieve their aspirations as individuals and as a family.

We aspire to provide services to families appropriate to their age and composition ensuring that they have the best possible opportunities to:

• access housing and create a home

• have safe and healthy relationships in their functioning as a family through through practical assistance and education
• access education, training and employment.

Micah Projects aspire to assist children by assisting parents to:

• nurture their children from pregnancy to birth, with quality healthcare
• understand the needs of children in early childhood
• access quality early childhood education and childcare
• support their children to be school ready support their children in school retention.

Micah Projects is committed to advocating with parents to access services, resources and opportunities in the community and provide them with the support they require to meet their aspirations and recover from adversity or crisis when it occurs. We also support and advocate with them through the systems which significantly impact on their lives, such as child protection, family law, domestic violence orders, justice, income support, education and healthcare. Micah Projects receives funding from the Queensland Government through the Department of Communities to provide prevention services to young women, their children and partners, and families at risk of homelessness or currently experiencing homelessness.

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