Mehradad Mohammodian is the owner of this Marrickville –based bakery and is a connoisseur in Iranian traditional pastries and sweets.

“I’ve been baking Iranian traditional sweets and pastries since I was eight years old, when I started helping my grandfather at his own bakery back in Esfahan,” Mr Mohammodian said.

“When I grew up, I continued to run the family business for 15 years, until I moved here in 2013.”

Mr Mohammodian arrived in to Australia by himself, with no family or friends waiting for him in his new country. To dispel the loneliness, he decided to invest all his time and effort in working hard to start a new business. In 2015, he established Esfahan Sweets.

“Although I started my business two years ago, I’m having trouble finding more customers and opportunities, and this is where the IgniteAbility team are supporting me.”

“I meet once a week with my IgniteAbility facilitator and we assess what we can do to expand my business. Currently, we’re working on new ways of packaging for my sweets and finding more markets to trade at. They’re very good people, I’m super happy.”

Mr Mohammodian says his sweets and pastries are special because none else makes them in Australia and because he has adapted them to the tastebuds of Sydneysiders, making them low sugar, low fat and vegan.

“I gave my pastries to my Australian friends to try but their feedback was that they were too sweet. I realised that not only what people like, but also the ingredients taste different here, so I have adapted my recipes to suit my my new country.”

Mr Mohammodian spent many hours testing new ingredients, quantities, giving them to his local friends to try and repeating the process again until he found the right balance to start selling them to the public.

You can find out more about Esfahan Sweets, check out photos of the pastries and make order on its Facebook page.

As the CEO of SSI, Ms Roumeliotis has overseen innovative diversification leading to more than 1,100 per cent revenue growth to $113 million over five years.

At an awards ceremony in Melbourne on November 22, she won firstly in the ‘For Purpose and Social Enterprise’ category before being named the 2017 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year.

Ms Roumeliotis took the opportunity to implore corporate Australia to tap into the out-of-the-box thinking and start-up mentality in the not-for-profit sector in order to solve pressing business challenges such as workforce shortages.

“Now begins the time when corporate Australia needs us in the not-for-profit sector to access the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking needed to advance our country — the exact things we’ve built our sector on for so many years,” she said.

“Many would be surprised to know just how effective community organisations are at developing world-class initiatives that address key social challenges and provide a win-win for business and community.”

At SSI, this is exemplified by a range of self-funded social enterprises that, in addition to providing services, give job seekers work experience opportunities in a real workplace environment.

“Our low cost supermarket, The Staples Bag, actively reduces Australia’s food wastage problem and addresses the growing issue of food insecurity. We have distributed over 500 tonnes of food in the last 12 months alone. At the same time, it provides work experience to help people break the cycle of unemployment,” she said.

This innovation is similarly present in SSI’s partnerships with businesses ranging from Google to Woolworths to Allianz Australia.

“Eighteen refugees and migrants with existing skills and qualifications who were matched to Allianz’s business needs embarked on a 12-month program that includes two job rotations in areas such as marketing, claims, finance and IT,” Ms Roumeliotis said.

“The mutual success of the Settlement Services International-Allianz partnership has been recognised by Australian Human Rights Commission as a finalist in the Human Rights Awards 2017.”

Ms Roumeliotis called on other business leaders to consider the innovation and commercial impact to be gained from partnership with the not-for-profit sector.

“Let’s work together to solve commercial and social challenges,” she said.

The Uganda Cultural Group gets festival crowds moving with traditional dance.

 Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park hosted the SSI New Beginnings Festival in Spring, where hundreds gathered to enjoy the musical, culinary and artistic talents of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. The event had many newly arrived refugees come and join the festivities.

 The festival had an array of stalls that showcased food and craft from around the world. Many of the businesses that set up shop are from SSI’s Ignite Small Business Start-ups initiative and are regulars at the Addison Road Street Food Markets in Marrickville. The self-funded Ignite initiative supports refugee entrepreneurs to kick-start their own businesses.

 

 

 

Sirjan Persian Rugs is a small business supported by SSI’s Ignite Small Business Start-ups initiative.

 

 SSI’s also runs IgniteAbility, which supports people with disability to expand and launch their own businesses.  

 

 

The festival hosts businesses like Syrian Kitchen that are supported by SSI’s IgniteAbility program

SSI’s Ability Links NSW program also had a presence at the festival, showcasing the talents of individuals from the community who live with disability.

 

 

Pictured with SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis (third from the left) is Kaelin Bird, a visual artist from Jindabyne who has been working with Ability Links NSW to achieve her goals. 

The festival showcased a jam-packed program of musical and dance performances that astounded audiences, including Sendas Salvadoreñas, an El Salvadoran dance and music performance group that celebrates the diversity of Latin American culture through rich storytelling.

Sendas Salvadoreñas performing acrobatic dance moves.

Dynamic hip hop and afro beats were performed by renowned Ugandan artist Kween G, who came to Australia after her family was granted asylum. Listen to a recent interview with SSI’s Carolina Triana and Kween on ABC’s Evening Show here.

Hip hop artist Kween G gets crowds bopping to phenomenal beats. 

Guitar riffs played by classical guitarist Sako Dermenijan drove shivers up audiences’ spines. Sako is an Armenian classical guitarist who sought refuge after the war broke out in his country.

Sako’s musical talents move festival audiences. 

The festival’s finale comprised a mesmerising performance from Worlds Collide, which fuses contemporary Australian music with African rhythms, Uyghur song cycles,  funk beats, soaring vocals and hip hop rhymes.

World Collide wrap up the festival with outstanding beats. 

Now in its third year, the New Beginnings Festival in Spring is the brainchild of Carolina Triana — the 2017 recipient of the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Community Medal for Arts & Culture, which recognised her work with refugees and people seeking asylum. It is one of several events that make up the broader SSI New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival.

 

A huge thanks to all SSI’s New Beginnings Festival in Spring partners: Commonwealth Bank, City of Sydney, Darling Harbour and Darling Square.

 

 

SSI team pictured with representatives of strategic partner Commonwealth Bank Australia. 

Stay tuned for the next New Beginnings Festival event, which will take place as part of Refugee Week in June 2018. For more information on the New Beginnings Festival in Spring, click here.

 

Deutsche Bank volunteers teamed up with members of the Armenian community at
SSI’s Community Kitchen.

Community Kitchen is SSI’s free multicultural lunch and social day for refugees and people seeking asylum, held fortnightly at Auburn Centre for Community.

It offers a space for guests to share a meal and experience multicultural Australia. They have fun meeting new people, practise their English, and participate in music and sporting activities.

In addition to interacting with the broader Australian community, guests can access specialist service providers, information and skills development.

Community Kitchen volunteers work with volunteer leaders, chefs and SSI staff to offer a welcoming space by greeting guests, assisting with food preparation and service, organising activities and setting-up and packing-down.

The Armenian Community Kitchen, hosted by SSI in collaboration with the Western Sydney Armenian Committee for Middle Eastern Refugee Assistance, featured Armenian food, dancing with Armenian dancer Colette Mardirossian, and free hairdressing.

Deutsche Bank has a generous volunteering policy. Employees can volunteer for two days a year with a registered charity of their choice.

Camilla, one of the Deutsche Bank participants at Community Kitchen, said the refugee and asylum seeking cause was something that resonated with her team so they came to spend a day learning more about the challenges refugees face and how they could help.

She said, “The best bit for me was chatting in the kitchen with the other volunteers, learning about Armenian food, helping out and meeting new people.”

Lynn said she came to help SSI with its beautiful Armenian community day.

“We’ve had an excellent time,” she said. “I’ve met many wonderful people with incredible stories, people who were very engaged and who were also keen to meet new people.”

Lynn was on set-up-room and outdoor duty, and then on name badge duty, which is why she was able to meet so many people.

She said she was grateful for the opportunity. “I will come again. I think our whole group will be back because we’ve all enjoyed it and I’ll be recommending to at least 50 other people that they should come too.”

Jill said she also had an excellent time. “I’ve cooked kebabs, I’ve played hula hoops with the little kids, I’ve been on barbecue duty. I’ve been very busy, very active, and it’s been very enjoyable.”

She said the best thing was talking with the children: “Just chatting to them, even though we couldn’t always communicate in English. Through the art of play we were able to guess what each other was trying to say.”

Jill said she learned a lot about the difference between refugees and asylum seekers. “And I’ve learned about Armenians, where they are from and what the day was all about — bringing the community together.

“I’ve also learned how to make a really good kebab. I’m going to practise that at home, though not as many as I made today.”

The Deutsche Bank team made hundreds of kebabs. They must have been tasty, said Lynn, because there were none left over.

Who was the best face painter?

“Definitely not me!” laughed Camilla, claiming there must have been lots of disappointed children. The huge smiles on the children’s faces said otherwise.

To volunteer at Community Kitchen, click here.

If you would like to get your colleagues together for corporate team volunteering, contact Naushin Rahman, Partnerships and Fundraising Manager, 8799 6700 or nrahman@ssi.org.au.

Like many of you, I am overjoyed about this result. While the result of the survey is non-binding and it is now in the hands of the government, we have moved a step closer to the moment when our friends in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) communities will have the right to marry the person they love.

Over the duration of the survey, we’ve seen many examples of the strong public support for LGBTI communities and equality. This has taken the form of marches, flags, murals, social media campaigns, phone bank campaigns for voter turnout, and numerous opinion pieces. You only have to look at the rainbow signs on the desks throughout SSI offices to see this support in practice.

Unfortunately, the extensive and unpleasant debate on this issue has also empowered people who would deny their neighbours the right to marry, without discrimination, regardless of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. Worse still, it has given a public platform to people who represent the extreme exclusivist and intolerant fringes of our society.

The period from the start of the survey to the announcement of the result has been a stressful and anxious time for many members of our community. If you or someone you know needs support, call QLife on 1800 184 527, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

There is much healing to be done — and also much celebrating.

In delivering this historic vote, Australians have sent a strong message and affirmed their support for a diverse Australia that values equality and human rights.

Violet Roumeliotis

SSI CEO

SSI recently took part in Techfugees Fairfield, an annual event acting as a centre of gravity for developers, refugees and the startup community to collaborate on solving problems with tech solutions. The initiative fosters the growth of a new ecosystem where refugees form lasting friendships in the wider community, enabling social change.

Ms Terzabian’s long-term aim for life in Australia is to work as a case manager, helping other refugees through the early days of settlement. Eighteen months after arriving in Australia, she’s checked off the first step — studying a Certificate IV in Community Services — and is now on to the second: volunteering one day a week with SSI to build up her experience supporting refugees.

“Refugees need to have patience. This is a new life to us, a new culture, a different language – everything is different. We have to be patient because if you’re not, you can’t reach your goals. You have to take everything step by step,” she said.

In her native Syria, Ms Terzabian was a beauty therapist. When she came to Australia in 2016, she initially acquired a certificate that would allow her to resume the trade here, but soon realised her passion lay elsewhere.

“I speak three languages now: English, Arabic, Armenian. I would like to be a case manager to help refugees. I understand what they’ve been through when they arrived here. It was like me — everything changed in my new life,” she said.

Ms Terzabian is originally from Aleppo. Prior to coming to Australia, she lived in Lebanon for four years with her husband, Jacob, and her sons Chris, 15, and Sasoun, 11.

“Living in Lebanon was difficult for our kids. They would ask me, ‘When are we going back to our country?’ I’d have to say, ‘It’s a war — we can’t go back’. Even up until now, they dream of their bedrooms and their things. We have been away from our country for six years and they still remember everything. But they’re here and they’re safe,” she said.

SSI has supported the family throughout their settlement journey, starting right at the beginning when staff greeted the family at the airport and took them to the house they lived in for the first few weeks in Australia.

“We were very happy. Our kids thought the house was like a castle. They were saying, ‘We love Australia. Mum, look at these roads, look at this. I was so happy for them,” Ms Terzabian said.

“They’d left their friends, their school, their clubs, their soccer team. But when we stayed in that house, they built relationships with the neighbours and played soccer together. They didn’t understand each other because they spoke different languages, but through body language and signalling, they built their first relationships in Australia.”

Both boys are enjoying school and making friends — “They talk like Aussies!” said Ms Terzabian.

“SSI has helped us to love Australia. We are in a hard position, but that gets better. Every day, we remember our country, and what we used to do. But when we see the kids and how happy they are in this country, it’s good, and the happiness and sadness is mixed together,” she said.

Ms Terzabian said she was thankful for organisations like SSI that support refugees to start their new lives in Australia.

Learn more about SSI’s Humanitarian Settlement Program

 
Highlights from the year at SSI.

But we also look beyond the immediate needs of individuals and communities and invest in their aspirations.

SSI’s people-first approach has inevitably led to strong outcomes — as demonstrated by our recently released 2016-17 annual report.

During the year, we provided 20,000 nights of emergency accommodation to people in need. We also helped more than 2,000 households secure long-term housing and provided settlement support to more than 10,000 refugees.

More than 1,500 people gained work experience through our social enterprises. We also helped 27 budding entrepreneurs establish a small business and supported into work 135 people with disability and 1,083 refugees and people seeking asylum.

This infographic highlights some of our key achievements during the year.

These incredible outcomes would not have been possible without contributions from the staff, supporters, volunteers, donors and partners who make up the wider SSI community.

With your generosity, commitment and compassion, we were able to assist more than 19,000 people who came through our doors in 2016-17.

Thank you all for getting behind the important work we do with new community members and vulnerable Australians.

With your continued support, we will keep striving to achieve a society that values the diversity of its people and actively provides support to ensure meaningful social and economic participation and to assist individuals and families to reach their potential.

Violet Roumeliotis
SSI CEO

The morning session began with an insightful and sobering address by Mr Santow, followed by a Q&A with the audience that focused on the human rights challenges posed by forced displacement and terrorism.

“The scale and complexity of these issues is at times overwhelming, and there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution,” Mr Santow said. “But no matter how complex the problem, international human rights law provides critical guidance on the basic principles that should underpin our response.

“These principles are not so complex: they are fundamental, easily recognisable values that provide a basic foundation for policy-making. Indeed, they have much in common with the values that inform SSI’s own work – justice, diversity, respect, compassion and ethics.”

The Q&A was followed by the inaugural SSI Community Appreciation Awards, which recognise people whose actions have made a profound and sustained positive impact on the lives of the communities SSI works with.

Representing City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Karl Asfour, Councillor Bilal El-Hayak presented the awards to its recipients, including Marg Bailey, who introduced SSI to the Bush Rangers at Middle Head National Park and developed the Bush Regeneration program, and June Simpson, a retired specialist school counsellor who has been the longest serving volunteer with SSI at nearly four years.

After a morning tea, the formal AGM proceedings highlighted the sustained growth and diversification experienced by the organisation in all aspects over the financial year 2016-2017, as well as the outstanding outcomes achieved as a result.

In her first report as SSI Chair, Elizabeth Shaw highlighted some of the key outcomes achieved over the last financial year, such as winning two of the 11 newly defined Humanitarian Settlement Program contract regions.

“This contract marks an exciting expansion for SSI’s refugee support services program, now extending beyond the Sydney region to cover the entire northern portion of the state, including the new settlement location of Armidale.”

Ms Shaw also outlined the main pillars of the new 2017-2020 strategic plan, which uphold a vision of continuity and commitment to the values that have guided SSI’s growth until now.

“It’s great to see that our vision has not been altered, because this demonstrates that we have always been on task and fundamentally understood our role and purpose,” Ms Shaw said.

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis highlighted the sense of inclusiveness and innovation driving SSI’s practices and policies, which have resulted in a leading organisation now representing a wide range of communities, from refugees to people with disabilities, to long-term job seekers, to children in foster care.

“SSI puts people first. We look beyond the immediate needs of individuals and communities and invest in their aspirations,” Ms Roumeliotis said.

“This people-first approach has inevitably led to strong outcomes represented by more than 19,000 clients who came through our doors to receive support, over 10,000 refugees who received direct settlement support and 2,000 households who secured long-term housing with us in 2016-17.”

Two new directors– Frank Zheng and Sophie Ray– were welcomed to the SSI Board, while long-term director Lou Bacchiella stepped down, joining Clement Meru, who had done so earlier this year.