Carnarvon partnership shows PCYC community spirit

Community is part our name and our DNA and it’s being demonstrated in spades by the partnership in Carnarvon with the Aboriginal Biodiversity Conservation Foundation.

ABC is an Aboriginal owned and operated enterprise which focusses on empowering and educating Indigenous people about caring for country. The Foundation supports disadvantaged Indigenous people throughout the Gascoyne and Mid-West via a range of programs such as providing free hot meals, healthcare and training for future employment.

PCYC has many shared aims and objectives with ABC and through this a strong partnership is developing. This began through the Foundation’s Food for the Mob program which provides free weekly meals for Indigenous people in need.

In return for using PCYC Carnarvon’s kitchen to prepare the meals, the Foundation also prepares food for the young people who come to our safeSPACE program on Friday nights.

Almost all of the safeSPACE attendees are Aboriginal so this is a great way for them to enjoy more traditional food like they would get at home. It’s turned out to be a great three-way relationship building exercise between PCYC, the young people and their ABC family members.

This proved especially important after the COVID-19 lockdown when PCYC Carnarvon was closed for three months. It was a struggle to re-engage some of the young people and ABC staff and volunteers were instrumental in helping everyone to reconnect. Overall, it is great to have family members re-engaged with PCYC and reconnecting with our services and facility.

Recently, the Foundation organised a yard clean up at the centre and that worked so well that PCYC Carnarvon is discussing other ways of working together.

ABC has been ready to help when Aboriginal mentors are needed for the young people and is a valuable resource for advice to make sure our programs are culturally appropriate. As natural partners for PCYC, there will be more opportunities to work with ABC towards our common goal of forging stronger communities and helping our young people reach their potential.