A Brisbane church will be able to expand the number of people they help overcome difficulties in life thanks to a grant from Carinity.
For the past 10 years Ashgrove Baptist Church has operated Ashgrove Community Care. Senior Pastor, Dave Blunden, said the community support initiative seeks to "empower individuals and families by facilitating growth in the midst of life's challenges".
"Ashgrove Community Care exists to provide professional and accessible counselling, supervision and information assistance to everyone within our community," Dave said.
"We also offer community courses that assist with marriages, parenting, those who have gone through divorce, and general wellbeing for men and women."
Ashgrove Community Care is expanding to include family and parenting and youth wellbeing support. Parent organisation Ashgrove Baptist Church was one of eight Queensland Baptist churches allocated funding from the latest round of Carinity's Collaborative Community Projects.
Dave said the funding would allow Ashgrove Community Care to increase the number of individuals and families they support in the western suburbs of Brisbane
"With the assistance of the community grant we will onboard a new coordinator who will oversee the expansion of these services with a three-year vision focusing on family relationships, senior adults, and youth," Dave said.
"We are seeking to expand our services to include a variety of other professionals such as psychology, legal assistance, speech therapy and early intervention, and addiction specialists.
"We are very thankful to partner with Carinity in this way and are grateful to God to serve our community."
According to Philip Hamilton, Carinity's Community Development Coordinator, Ashgrove Community Care's new three-year project is a "good example of a local church seeking to connect meaningfully with their community to deliver long lasting transformation in peoples' lives".
"David and his team have taken the time to consult with local community groups, council representatives and key business leaders to formulate a strategy for change which considers the ongoing challenges people living locally are facing," Philip said.
A total of $188,000 in new funding approvals allocated through the Collaborative Community Projects will support eight projects designed to relieve and mitigate disadvantage, promote connectivity for vulnerable people, and increase the strength of local neighbourhoods.
Approximately $312,000 will also be distributed to multi-year projects approved in previous years of the Collaborative Community Projects program.
