In 1994, Presentation Sister Ann Halpin opened the doors of Wellsprings for Women as a welcoming place for isolated women in Dandenong and surrounding areas.
The intention was to help women access services, connect with each other, learn new skills, and improve their life circumstances.
From that beginning, Wellsprings grew to reach thousands of women across the Dandenong, region. We work in the most multicultural area in Australia with regular influx of newly arrived migrants and refugees,
We respond to identified needs of women and their children and advocate for improved services and outcomes.
We are nimble and agile in responding to emerging needs.
During COVID for example, we were very quick in transitioning to online delivery of our education classes and managed to supply over 170 women with laptops and internet access, as well as helpdesk support to enable them to join online learning.
We understood from the start the need for emergency relief, food relief, and material aid, and played a key role in supplying families with their needs.
Responding to migrant and refugee women experiencing family violence is another example of how we managed to address a gap in the specialist family violence sector for women seeking a different approach to how they want to be helped than what is on offer within the mainstream.
We are an eclectic organisation, a hybrid of a Neighbourhood House, Learn Local, Specialist family violence agency and Women-specific organisation committed to working towards a society where women are safe and thriving.
Between 1994 and 2024 we made significant impact
o English Literacy and Numeracy: Delivered a total of 364,261 ACFE student contact hours.
o Women’s Health and Wellbeing : Supported over 12,000 women through various programs and initiatives.
o Community Engagement: Contributed over 150,000 volunteer hours, valued at $3,750,000.
o Sessions and Activities: Delivered over 14,000 sessions and activities to engage and benefit the community.
o Community Value: For every dollar invested we return 4.8 times in social and economic value .
We thank our funders and supporters for believing in our mission and our capacity to deliver on our commitments.
We are Wellsprings for Women, a grass roots, women-led, dynamic, welcoming, and simply fabulous organisation . We are caring and compassionate and will fight with determination for our clients’ rights to live their life with dignity.
25 окт 2024
