Gallawah community hub launched on third anniversary

By Murray Silby

Oct 4, 2023

**Grand opening:** Gallawah Foundation chair Trevor Barker and Gallawah founder and director Tina Powney at the opening of their community hub. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Disability support service provider Gallawah has celebrated its third anniversary by extending its operations and opening a community hub.

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Barapa Barapa woman Tina Powney created the Shepparton-based service after her son, who has a disability, was imprisoned.

“My son was 18 with a disability and went into prison, and it was a journey of heartbreak, and I just didn’t want another family to go through what I’ve gone through,” Ms Powney said.

“I just started connecting with families, and they started telling me their stories about their loved ones with disabilities, and nobody was doing anything about it.”

Ms Powney said Gallawah now had staff and clients, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, across Victoria and had given evidence to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability.

“Children that are in child protection, children that are at risk of entering the justice system, we will support them and their families, right through to adults. We work with little people right through to 65 years of age, so quite a big cohort,” she said at Gallawah’s hub opening on Tuesday, September 26.

Gallawah is supported by the Gallawah Foundation, and its chair and support co-ordinator, Trevor Barker, said the organisation was attempting to do things differently to avoid the mistakes of the past.

“It’s just great to see that people that haven’t previously had a chance in life are getting a chance and making a difference and getting the support they need,” Mr Barker said.

“It really does touch your spirit when you see people making a go (of it).”

Kaine Bender is a Bundjalung and Barkandji man who has benefited from Gallawah’s services.

He was in Port Phillip Prison when he met Mr Barker, who helped him make a list of milestones he wanted to achieve in life.

“He wrote down what I actually wanted done, and that was get my own place, just become normal,” Mr Bender said.

“It came to the point that I turned to Trevor, and I told him this, and I’ve actually done them all. Every single one of them, behaviour change, stay off drugs, buy my own house, got my dog.”

Ms Powney said the hub was at Gallawah’s High St offices and would help connect people with disabilities with the services they required and capacity-building programs such as sewing, art and cooking classes.

“The hub will be a connection for people with disabilities to come into a safe environment, have a conversation, even if they don’t have NDIS, to be able to get an understanding of their needs,” Ms Powney said.

“We’re going to have a service wall with all the different services so it’s a connection hub, so they’re able to come in and build that relationship with services.”