ACCESS COMMUNITY HOUSING

TENANT NEWSLETTER JUNE 2016

Better Homes, Better Futures

From the Chair’s desk

With the introduction and ongoing success of our newsletter, I thought it an appropriate medium to engage with our tenants through a contribution in the newsletter, on a regular basis. I’ve had the privilege of sitting on the Access Board for over 8 Years, and as the current Chair I get to hear the great work that is being done by staff, support

agencies and tenants to achieve our collective motto of “Better Homes Better Futures”.

As a board of Directors we are proud of the efforts of all who work hard to improve Community housing in Far North Queensland. During May we celebrated National Volunteer Week and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of our volunteers, those tenants who give their time to join our TAG, help out in various ways and to my fellow directors who volunteer their time. Your contributions are acknowledged and hugely appreciated.

The month of May was also Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month. May is set aside each year to raise community awareness of the social and personal impacts of domestic and family violence and the support available to those affected. Access Housing promotes clear messages about not tolerating domestic and family violence and to ensure that those experiencing violence have access to help and support.

On a positive note, it is great to see that staff have entered a team into the Relay for Life fundraising event here in Cairns in July. This event raises much needed funds to support the Cancer Council with their valuable work and ultimately to help find a cure for cancer. Cancer impacts on all of us in some way, shape or form, it does not discriminate. Well done to the team for their efforts and best wishes with your fund raising and walking for such a worthy cause.

2016 is already proving to be a busy year and certainly special as we celebrate 25 years for Access Housing. I understand that we already have some great stories contributed by tenants that will collectively become a memento, celebrating with 25 stories for 25 years. Each and everyone of us have a story to tell, and this unique opportunity provides a forum in which some of our tenants can highlight their journeys and just as importantly, their own strong qualities. An excerpt of one of the life stories appears in this newsletter. I am looking forward to reading all of them when they are published later in the year.

On behalf of staff and the Board, we extend our best wishes to you all. Michael

2016 GARDENING COMPETITION

A reminder that the Access Housing Gardening competition will be held in August. We hope that you are giving your gardens, baskets and pots lots of ‘TLC’ so they are in full bloom for show in

August. Please complete your attached entry form, and return to Access Housing.

Supervising

Children

It is Access Housing’s duty of

care to remind parents and

carers that children need to

be supervised at all times, particularly

keeping them away from dangerous objects

and situations that may lead to injury or

harm to others. Particularly important is to

ensure that children keep away from sites

where tradesmen are working, as these are

often very hazardous.

-Disturbances in complexes-

Please call the police AND inform your Housing Manager of behaviours that are affecting the peace and safety of where you live. This includes people partying loudly and threatening or abusive behaviours. The matter will be more effectively dealt with if you do contact the police and then your Housing Manager.

Decluttering- view from a Clutterer There are those people who are great at cleaning up, even enjoy it. Me? Not so much on both counts. So these

decluttering tips help keep me in check.

10 minute tidy When the house starts to feel messy, I put on music, not too loudly of course, and clean up for ten minutes. It’s simple, but ten minutes of cleaning makes a big difference. Listening to music makes the time pass quickly. Keep surfaces clear Horizontal surfaces are magnets for clutter (kitchen counters, coffee table, dining room table, bathroom counter, dressers, desks). Clutter attracts more clutter. In order to combat this, I keep as little as possible on counters and try to clear things off the table, etc when I’m finished using them or before I leave the room. You would be surprised what a difference it makes.

If you feel that you need assistance with decluttering your home, please contact your Housing Manager.

Dealing with litter and rubbish None of us live in a bubble. We all live beside other people. Sometimes we don’t always think about how our behaviour affects others. For example, if you live in a unit complex with a communal space it is for everybody’s use and enjoyment. So, if every individual cleans up after themselves it’s not a problem, but there’s always a few who don’t! They just leave their litter lying around and then others get angry as they end up cleaning it up. Most of the time it’s not that people deliberately want to anger someone, they just have not considered the IMPACT of their actions. Your actions can have an impact in a good or bad way.

What can happen if you leave food scraps and rubbish around?

The food will rot and encourages flies, rats, cockroaches and parasites

There is an increased risk of making you or your family sick from disease

Your children and visitors could stand on broken glass or rusty tins and the cut could become infected.

What you can do:

Make sure there are no bags of food scraps lying around

Wrap all food scraps and disposable nappies before they are placed in the bin

Make sure the bin lid can close before you put rubbish in, as an open bin attracts flies and cockroaches

In a communal area, have a plastic bag ready, so that you can place empty bottles, cans and any food scraps and put it in the bin when you leave

Tell your visitors to not leave rubbish lying around or clean up after them if they do.

[Adapted from the Australian Government Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au]

Access Community Housing has responsibilities for maintaining the garden and lawns in common areas but NOT someone else’s rubbish left lying around. When you act to make a difference for you, your family, friends and where you live, you are

making a difference.

Relay for Life— Our team

Access Community Housing has taken on the

challenge and we have entered a team for the annual

Relay for the Life event held on 31 July at Barlow

Park to raise funds for the Queensland Cancer

Council. Aptly named the Access-ories, we will be

running, (ok, more like strolling) around the track

from Saturday evening all the way through to Sunday

morning. We are raising funds for the Queensland

Cancer Council. We also have a huge hamper packed

with goodies that we are raffling. Raffle tickets can be

obtained from reception.

Left to Right: Front, Litsa, Jim, Lyn, Back: Judy,

Sharnii, Donna-Maree, Cheryl, Jodie, Anna, Jill,

Nicole, Ros Inset: Abby

Volunteering - Makes you feel good

It was National Volunteers Week May 09 - 14 to celebrate

and acknowledge the valuable work that volunteers do.

Access Housing celebrated its volunteers by holding a

morning tea and awarding each volunteer with a

Certificate of Appreciation. There were nine volunteers;

eight Access Housing tenants and one volunteer, Pablo

from Australian Red Cross who attended. Pablo runs a

Massage Hands session every fortnight for our Seniors.

Everyone exchanged thoughts about what they did and

what it meant to them.

Key Responses

‘I feel good doing something’

‘I feel better than the person I’ve helped’

‘I started driving the children’s bus as a volunteer; it is

now a paid job’

‘I met people and made friends’

Volunteering works both ways. You get something out of

it, and the person or the organisation does too.

Volunteering does not have to be about directly helping

someone. There are many different activities. It works best

when it is an activity that you enjoy.

Benefits to you

You gain experience that can help you to obtain

paid work.

The organisation may provide a reference for you.

Your well being increases as a result of doing

something you know is helping the community in

some way.

FNQ Volunteers Inc. is the lead agency for volunteering in

the FNQ region, and holds a register of varied volunteer

positions. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or

want to find out more contact:

FNQ Volunteers

Suite 6 Virginia House

68 Abbott Street

Cairns 4870

Tel: 4041 7400

Email: info@fnqvolunteers.org

Website: http://fnqvolunteers.org.au/

From left to right: Martha, Jane, Sylvia, Anh, Rae, Sonja,

Dorrise, Ros (Tenant Engagement Officer) and Pablo

Reminder Bursary-for talented young people (12 -18 years)

Access Housing is offering awards up to the

value of $1000 for tenants who have a son or

daughter aged 12 -18 who is performing well

or who shows a talent in education; sport; art;

drama or music. The money will be used to

pay for costs that assist the winners to achieve

their potential. Look out for a letter that will be

sent shortly to families with children who are

aged between 12 and 18.

Tenants’ Life Stories update

13 people have participated so far. Here is

part of Andy Fletcher’s story:

I lived in Papua New Guinea for thirty-six years and had some very interesting times. Once I was kidnapped by three hard-core criminals, who had escaped from the local prison. I disturbed them trying to steal my car from underneath my house late at night. I had not heard of the escape; if I had I would not have gone down. They tied me up, gagged, and blindfolded me, and were going to use me as a hostage next morning when they planned to rob the Westpac Bank. They took me to a pit in the bush where I was pushed into a small cave while two of them went off to steal some petrol while one guy was left to guard me. He dozed off in the early morning after polishing off a bottle of brandy he had stolen from my house. I escaped after removing my bonds. Luckily he was in a deep sleep and didn't hear me stepping onto dry leaves. I did not escape down the track as I thought I might run into the others, but I ran through the jungle to the food gardens of a local high school about a kilometre away. Three school girls were working in the gardens when I burst out of the bush like the wild man of Borneo. I told them what had happened and asked them to go and get the Principal, who was a friend of mine. They got the message a bit mixed up, telling him “your friend Andy who escaped from prison is hiding in the gardens” hahaha!

Not all the stories sound like a scene from a James Bond movie, but every story is unique and shows that our tenants have gone through amazing; difficult; sad; funny and adventurous times. Fact is certainly more interesting than fiction!

A younger Andy having a

brew with mates

What’s on... 14 Jun Drug Awareness Seminar: A parent

education session—a free one hour

seminar covering:

Why some people become addicts

The effect of drug addictions on the

brain

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse

Warning signs of drug use in your

teenager

Common drugs in the area and their

side effects

Parent self-care: The importance of

looking after yourself if you are

supporting a loved one with a drug

problem. 10:00am – 11:00am, UnitingCare

Community, 98 Birch St Manunda, Contact:

4032 6800, Bookings Essential.

15 Jun Cairns Triple P Positive Parenting Program

free seminar – techniques for tackling

problem behaviours in kids and how to be

an effective & positive parent, for parents of

children between 2 and 12, presented by

Child, Youth and Family team staff, to

register call 4226 4309: 9.30am – 11.30am Edmonton Community

Health Centre,

Tel: 4031 6702 Fax: 4051 0743

Office Address Postal Address

5 Anderson Street Po Box 7381

Manunda 4870 Cairns 4870

Send Emails to: admin@achc.org.au

Visit us on the web at www.achc.org.au

Office Opening Hours:

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9:00am– 4:30pm

Wednesday 9:00am—1:00pm

Access Community Housing

FIND US ON FACEBOOK!

If interested in attending any NAIDOC activities in the community, please contact Jodi or Anna at the office.

Contact Us

Tenant Garden Competition 2016

Entry Form Please fill in your details below:

Name: _______________________________

Address: _____________________________

Contact Number: _____________________

Please tick only one box of the category you wish to enter

Competition closes on Monday 08 August

Judging will be carried out by members of Friends of the Botanic

Gardens Cairns

A prize will be awarded to the winner of each category

By signing I agree to the below: _________________________________

Photographs of my garden can be used by Access Community Housing for

promotional purposes.

Categories

Best Creative Garden

Best Larger Garden

Best Patio/Balcony/Small space

Best Vegie/Fruit/Herb Garden