All posts by Victorian Arabic Social Services

VASS’ Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) worked to enrich the lives of senior ASB individuals who are at risk of social isolation. The program promoted the social and emotional wellbeing of the recipients of Australian Government subsidised Home Care Packages (from any provider) through matching the older person with a volunteer.

The benefits of the Community Visitors Scheme for the clients were:

• Increased social and emotional wellbeing
• Decreased feeling of social isolation
• Connectedness to the ASB community
• Formation of a long-term friendship
• Occasional outings such as visits to a park as part of the volunteer-client relationship

The volunteers involved have had a sound knowledge of the cultural importance and values. The volunteers were matched to the client based on preferences to provide a comfortable, fun, and familiar experience.

Some of the visitations the volunteers undertook included:

• A one on one visit by a volunteer to a client in accordance to the Home Care Package (HPC)
• Possible transportation of client for a local outing i.e. a trip to the local shops

The Victorian Arabic Social Services CVS volunteer program and visits were available to clients who were receiving a Home Care Package (HCP) who had been assigned by their aged care provider as an person experiencing  or being at risk of, social isolation. This could have been due to social or cultural reasons or reasons relating to a disability where the client required companionship.V

The VASS Settlement Services were designed to build the capacity of the new and emerging Iranian community. This was done through a variety of activities such as linking Iranian clients to mainstream services, empowering clients to access education and employment by assisting with resume writing and linking clients to relevant training, short-term case work and advocacy, particularly around settlement issues, and group information sessions on a range of topics such as the Australian legal system, the Australian social service system, and health and wellbeing. VASS’ Settlement Services program also provided information sessions on the needs of the Iranian community in Victoria to other service providers, to maximise the capacity of these services to respond appropriately to the Iranian community’s needs.
The Settlement Services was funded by the Department of Social Services.

This program serviced people of Iranian background who are humanitarian entrants; refugees with offshore visas; family stream migrants with low level of English proficiency; and dependants of skilled migrants in rural and regional areas with low English proficiency.