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Amy Somes's Speech
13th Sept 07
Fifi started last year, we are a group of women who all work in the finance industry, hence the name. We came together with the common goal of wanting to put something back into our local community. We all felt that this industry had been good to us and that we should share that with people less fortunate than ourselves. We have decided on four loose critieria in looking at charities that we want to support. They are:
- Charities that fly under the radar (ie. ones that don't already have big corporate sponsors).
- Charities that are involved in working families.
- Charities that may have an educational focus.
- Charities that are local so the foundation can get involved on a more personal level.
We hope to be able raise much needed funds for these charities but also to provide them with a profile. We encourage you to support the charities directly. For us it is not just about fifi raising the money for these charities but giving these charities as many different avenues as possible to access their much needed funds. For example if your office supports different charities maybe get them on the list.
We have also started our own charitable foundation seeded with money from ourselves. We plan to build the foundation up over time so that we can create a sustainable model thru which regular income distributions can be made to our chosen charities. We intend to support a number of charities over time.
The first charity that we are supporting is PIFA, the Parent infant foundation of Australia. We were attracted to PIFA because their goal is to work with families who have the greatest emotional and economic need and social disadvantage. PIFA was established in 1999 by psychotherapist Norma Tracey and Father Peter Quin. Their aim is to help the families thru professional counselling.
Part of PIFA's work, and the part that fifi wants to help fund, is their work with young aboriginal families and mothers in Redfern. They provide this thru what they call a weekly home visiting program. We recognise and feel deeply for the indigineous people who struggle with trans generational trauma suffered thru dislocation from their land, community and family.
It is important to understand that experiences that occur in the first 5 years of life have a dramatic effect on brain development that, in turn, affects the physical and mental health of individuals for a life time. For infants and young children who experience trauma such as neglect, abuse, family violence and other adverse experiences, the effects are devastating. Studies clearly show that well funded prevention and early intervention programs provided in the earliest years of life improve adult incomes, prevent many physical and mental health disorders and reduce costs for services such as those for dealing with crime, unemployment, learning problems, treatments for substance abuse and mental disorders.
PIFA thru the therapy they provide help the mother grow to see herself as a person of value. Their goal is to provide them with self respect as a mother and person and inspire pride in their culture. This will hopefully help to break the cycle of despair and help the next generation have a better life. They provide these mothers with knowledge essential for effective parenting, information that most of us as mothers take for granted. Such as nutritional advice, the importance of holding a baby and the benefits of breastfeeding. A lot of this basic knowledge has been lost thru the stolen generation.
Fiona Stanley wrote an opinion piece in the SMH in July which talked directly to a lot of these issues. Fiona is a highly regarded pediatrician and former Australian of the Year.
Her research shows a clear link between the effects of the stolen generations and mental ill health. The intergenerational effects of the trauma due to forced removal of children include substance abuse, gambling and poor parenting skills. She goes on to say there must be a process of healing. And that early childhood development programs should focus on parent and child, start antenatally and continue thru early childhood. It is exactly what PIFA aims to achieve.
It has been well documented that our indigineous population is suffering chronic health issues. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders have a life expectancy 17 years less than other Australians. This is a situation that can and has to be fixed. Thru supporting PIFA to help support these women and their families I am sure we can help their mental wellbeing which will then have flow thru affects to their general health and happiness and provide benefits to our community as a whole. It will also help in the reconcilation process so that together we can move forward and build a better nation.
The current plight of indigineous Australians is plainly unacceptable. Lets help. PIFA currently home visit 6 families and have the capacity to home visit 10-15 families but need further funding to do it. It cost $7000 to provide weekly visits to one family for a year.
Let us be part of making our community a better place and helping the less fortunate than us because we really are all extremely lucky people.
