Southern Community Welfare (SCW) is a counselling and community education service providing support for families and individuals and focusing their services on early intervention and harm prevention. SCW aim to equip, empower and care for those in need – supporting the whole person – emotionally, intellectually and physically whilst being committed to the values of excellence, integrity, innovation and professionalism.
SCW have a variety of services and resources including their Rainbows grief and loss program, which incorporates Memory Book sessions for children who have lost a parent. SCW will also be piloting RAGE (Re-navigating Anger and Guilty Emotions), an anger management program for adolescent boys. In April 2011, the Sydney Community Foundation was proud to support the extension of the Rainbows program and the RAGE pilot through a grant made possible by the K&J Kay and the Neil Cocks & Kellan Kent subfunds of the SCF.
Through RAGE training, the staff at SCW will conduct workshops for adolescent boys with the goal being increased competence in anger management skills and a decrease in violent and anti-social behaviour by group participants. Through the Rainbows program, Memory Book sessions will provide a creative way for children who have lost a parent to express their emotions, with the goal being healthy expression of grief.
Grief left unchecked or unvoiced can have a long term negative effect on those it touches. Early interventions such as the Rainbow program and the Memory Book will help children express their grief in a healthy manner which reduces the likelihood of future mental illness.
The Sydney Community Foundation wishes Southern Community Welfare all the best for these wonderful and important programs. Keep your eyes on our website for updates on what will surely be stories of great impact.