The Order of Malta and ACU Community Hub team have been awarded the 2024 Vice-Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award for Collaboration with Church and Church Ministries.
In 2021, ACU partnered with the Order of Malta to explore opportunities to work together on mission-aligned community engagement work. The outcome was a mobile community hub that delivers community outreach programs across the City of Darebin in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
Anna Vandierendonck, Dr Matthew Pink and Jennifer Tredinnick have led the ACU component of the partnership.
Ms Vandierendonck said the team was proud to receive the award and it was great validation of the innovative path taken to establish and run the community hub.
"We look forward to sharing this award with the Order of Malta, our volunteers and ACU students and staff who continue to support our work with the Darebin community."
With a shared commitment to marginalised communities, underpinned by the principles of Catholic Social Thought, both ACU and the Order of Malta have contributed to the project to undertake agile and impactful community-engaged projects and programs that support the common good and the dignity of the human person.
"As a mobile unit, the community hub meets with community in the familiar and safe places they gather, rather than expecting people to travel to a physical hub," Ms Vandierendonck said.
The mobile community hub takes the form of a vehicle, complete with a small coffee machine, a foldable table and mugs and plates.
The community hub aims to foster flourishing lives and thriving communities by delivering programs that are inclusive, accessible, and support local autonomy and decision-making. These have included mobile community cafe sessions, reading and cooking programs at a local primary school, and a community garden project.
The project has only been possible through the support of volunteers. More than 60 ACU students have completed community engagement placements with the Community Hub, while 17 volunteers from the Order of Malta and the local community have provided more than 400 hours of volunteer service. More than 30 ACU students have also completed professional placements with the community hub.
The community hub is currently looking for more volunteers who can assist with the delivery of programs.
If you are interested in helping, or keen to learn more about the ACU and Order of Malta Community Hub, please contact anna.vandierendonck@acu.edu for more information.
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