President and CEO Report - Annual Report 2022/2023

Althea Projects acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we walk, work and live, the Bindal and Juru peoples of the Burdekin, the Gudjal peoples of Charters
Towers, the Bindal and Wulgurukaba peoples of the Townsville region and the Yirandhali peoples of Hughenden, and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

CHAIR REPORT

Alan Newman

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the staff, carers, supporters, funding bodies and the community for their ongoing support and efforts. Special mention needs to go to Paula La Rosa for her unwavering commitment to the organisation, its values and its people.

It has been a successful year for Althea Projects, we have met or exceeded our commitments and agreed outcomes with funding bodies, achieved our budgets, expanded Althea Projects support for our community through investment in Althea House and a continued focus on staff.

Without the dedication of the wonderful staff and their commitment to Althea Projects none of this would be possible. It has also been a challenging year for Paula La Rosa and her management team and through hard work, determination and courageous leadership Althea Projects is now a stronger organisation.

I would again like to thank everyone for their ongoing support of Althea Projects and look forward to its continued success.

 

CEO REPORT

Paula La Rosa

I am proud to present Althea Project‘s Annual Report. It is clear that we have made significant strides this year in fulfilling our mission to support and strengthen individuals, families, children and young people. This enables them to experience social, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing and reach their full potential.

This report highlights our accomplishments, shares the impact we’ve had in the community and outlines our vision for the future. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our staff, and the ongoing trust and support we have with our funders, key community partners and donors. In these times that remain challenging for our community, we have continued to extend what we do and how we do it, so our service offerings remain current, flexible, and adaptable and have the greatest impact.

Highlights

  • Across all services we have supported 3,980 people and delivered 35,102 hours of service delivery.
  • We successfully renegotiated a new five (5) year agreement for our homelessness service.
  • Morehead Meals continued to evolve into a sustainable social enterprise. The distribution of low cost healthy and nutritious meals enabled us to better support the needs of vulnerable people in our community.
  • We were humbled by another year of generous support from a number of businesses in our community. See our thank you page for a list of our supporters.
  • Our Reconciliation Grants administered almost $10,000 to 23 recipients to support them in their goals.
  • Our fundraising events were highly successful with our IGA Golf Day and Myer Charity Event raising much needed money to support Wee Care in delivering services outside of funding limitations.

ONE OF OUR GREATEST HIGHLIGHTS

One of our greatest highlights this year is fulfilling a long-term commitment to purchase an additional property to deliver a residential service to 0-12 year olds who are on child protection orders. This type of residential model that we call Althea House, is specifically targeted to care for babies and children, and is an identified need that we have been striving to play a bigger role in. We have been caring for children referred by Child Safety for several years at Wee Care; however, demand has exceeded our capacity. I am grateful to our Board for having the trust in us and purchasing the new property. This model continues to demonstrate the positive difference it makes in changing the lives of children. Setting up Althea House, as a standalone new program has taken tremendous skill and expertise. My thanks to our managers, Kelli-ann May (Quality and Compliance Manager), Lynne Josey (Wee Care Program Manager), Louise Skennerton (Foster and Kinship Program Manager), Tina Adams (Acting Wee Care Program Manager), Tash Henderson (Corporate Services Manager) and Mary Elwin (Acting Coordinator) who have worked tirelessly to establish all the new systems, policies and procedures for the service. I also want to acknowledge all the Althea House and Wee Care staff who have stepped up and worked collectively to ensure we provide the best care to the children to meet all their needs.

COMING YEAR

With our solution-focused, strengths-based approach, the coming 12 months provides great optimism and opportunities that we will embrace. A particular focus for the coming year will be recognising and celebrating our 50th year supporting our local community, as Wee Care commenced operation in 1974. Look out for exciting celebrations that will roll out throughout the year. I extend my gratitude to all our Program Managers, staff and volunteers, who are at the grassroots of Althea Projects, working tirelessly with our service users, so they receive the highest quality care and support services. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the Board for their invaluable support and leadership. Together we ensure that we fulfil our vision and mission to support and strengthen individuals, families, children and young people so they experience wellbeing and reach their full potential.

 

Thank you to our supporters.

Our achievements are only possible due to the ongoing support by our funding bodies and supporters. I would like to take the opportunity to thank our government funding partners:

  • Queensland Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services
  • Queensland Department of Housing
  • Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and Arts
  • Queensland Department of Health
  • Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General
  • Australian Government Department of Social Services
  • Townsville City Council

I want to make special mention to key supporters who have provided very important and significant financial support to us during 2022 / 2023.

  • Armi’s IGA Supermarket ‘Armi’s IGA Charity Golf Day’
  • BM Webb
  • Bunnings Warehouse
  • Catholic Women’s League Townsville
  • Darren Finlay Innovation House
  • Grill’d Townsville
  • GIVIT
  • Carmichael Ford Mercedes-Ben
  • MYER Townsville and Myer Community Foundation
  • OZ Harvest
  • Pickerings Auto Group
  • Rotary Clubs across Townsville, Rotary Australia World Community Service
  • Second Bite
  • SNOOZE
  • The Cathedral School
  • The Fencing Factory
  • Three Loaves
  • Townsville Grammar School
  • XRX Business Centre

Incredible Individuals

There have also been a number of incredible individuals who raised money and donated to us. You are our Althea Angels who keep our local families strong, connected and protected. Every dollar donated goes back into our services and makes a significant difference to the wellbeing of individuals, children and families in our community.

 

 

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