Students of Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School (SCEGGS) Darlinghurst, and their families have dug deep and raised more than $4,000 for SSI’s refugee and asylum seeker clients, as well as food packages. SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said the generous donation was a boost that would benefit many people.

Settlement Services International CEO Violet Roumeliotis has been named in Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 list of the most influential people working in the not-for-profit sector in 2014. Ms Roumeliotis was chosen in the top 25 from 200 people working in the sector, by more than 3,600 Pro Bono Australia readers who voted.

A partnership between Legal Aid NSW and settlement services provider Settlement Services International (SSI) has been effective in providing free legal assistance to recent arrivals and migrants, especially in Sydney’s west, an independent review has found. Almost 2,200 services were provided to clients in the first year of the project and the partners today signed an undertaking to continue the successful collaboration.

Campbelltown-based SSI staff partnered with MacArthur Diversity Services Initiative (MDSI) in November, to take a group refugee and asylum seeker clients on a day trip to beautiful Fitzroy Falls in the Southern Highlands. The excursion was a chance for SSI and MDSI case managers to engage with the men outside the office environment, to give them an opportunity to meet others in similar situations, and to enhance their wellbeing through a fun and novel experience.

SSI’s Chair Kamalle Dabboussy and I had the opportunity to present at the International Metropolis Conference in Milan in November, and we left with a membership invitation and the beginnings of a bid to host the conference in Sydney. The Milan conference theme, “Migration: energy for the planet, feeding cultures,” looked at a global migration context.

SSI was a finalist in the 2014 Macquarie Social Innovation Awards, granted by the Macquarie Group Foundation to foster social innovation in the not-for-profit sector. The winner of the 2014 award was the WA-based Fogarty Foundation which focuses on innovative programs and initiatives that advance education, was announced on November 19.

SSI hosted a dinner for more than 50 real estate agencies and their staff on Wednesday November 19, to thank them for their support of our organisation and clients. SSI has been providing accommodation support to humanitarian entrants, refugees and people seeking asylum since 2012, and provides services to more than 10,000 clients each year.

“As I walked up the stairs I saw her joyfully dancing with the three children to African music that connected them so authentically to their culture – it was beautiful.” Tari, SSI caseworker. Settlement Services International (SSI) was today recognised for the innovation and positive impact of its Multicultural Foster Care Service on children and families in out-of-home care.

I was incredibly heartened to see the thousands of people from diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds who walked together on October 25, to show their support for a multicultural Australia where all people are respected.

SSI’s Storytelling and Film-making Workshop program culminates this month with a showcase of short films. On November 14, SSI friends, staff, volunteers and clients are invited to a special screening of films made by SSI’s asylum seeker clients during the six-week workshop program.

SSI case managers have continued their efforts to show the various local charities just how much they are appreciated by sharing a morning tea. One team of Community Support Program staff from SSI Parramatta paid a visit to the Salvos charity store in Fairfield, on October 9, delivering treats for staff and volunteers, sharing stories and thanking them for their support.

Staff involved in SSI’s Playtime program were given a guided tour of the Owl's House Early Education Centre at the University of NSW last month, to observe how the service operates. Owl's House is a specialist childcare centre with a focus on early education that has provided support to SSI’s Playtime program. 

The 6th annual STARTTS Refugee Ball was held on October 23, at Cockle Bay Wharf, and was enthusiastically supported by SSI staff. The ball raises much needed funds for the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).

SSI took 34 young clients on an ‘Amazing Race’-style adventure around Sydney, during the recent school holidays to provide some fun and educational entertainment.

Humanitarian entrants who come to Australia on Women at Risk (WaR) visas are among the most vulnerable of refugees. They have been displaced from their homes and have experienced or been in danger of abuse, harassment and victimisation because of their gender.

Sarah Yahya, 19, was born hearing impaired in Iraq in 1995, to a Mandaean family that lived in fear for their safety. The Mandaean ethnic-religious group has been increasingly persecuted since not long after Sarah arrived in the world. In the cover of night, aged six, Sarah, her sister and mother, were whisked from their home and driven 12 hours in to Jordan. Once there, they went immediately to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to seek protection. Their father had been arrested and was in prison, serving four years for his beliefs.

Tony Podesta believes tennis is a ‘lifetime’ sport. So who better to teach tennis to then recently arrived refugees settling into their new lives in Australia?  A group of 8 to 12 children and adults has participated in a Tennis Australia Multicultural Tennis Program for Refugees at the Tony Podesta School of Tennis in Fairfield once a week for the past 10 weeks. 

Asylum seekers may not be able to bring many material possessions with them when seeking safety in Australia, but many of them bring impressive skills. To give their talents an outlet, and so more people can enjopy them, Settlement Services International (SSI) an a Sydney music organisation have facilitated opportunities for a group of refugee and asylum seeker musicians from Iran and Burma. 

The importance of maintaining a child’s connection to their cultural heritage, language and religion while in foster care should not be underestimated. During NSW Foster Care week, September 14-21, Manager of Multicultural Foster Care Service (MFCS) Mr Ghassan Noujaim, hopes to highlight the important work of the services’ foster carers in helping maintain cultural connections. “Our foster carers are incredible in their dedication to, and support for, keeping cultural links for their foster children,” said Mr Noujaim.

Settlement Services International (SSI) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the tender to deliver Status Resolution Support Services in NSW and ACT. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has worked with stakeholders over the past 18 months to bring four existing support programs for asylum seekers together into a single program to deliver support services to clients while their immigration status is being resolved. The resulting program is known as Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS)