MG breaking down barriers to support mums at Gunnawirra
Aboriginal charity Gunawirra has been gaining traction thanks to the hard work of its passionate employees and now with the MG HS on loan from MG as a core part of the team’s arsenal, they are taking their services to the next level.
Formed in 2008, Gunawirra is a community-led organisation that works closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, children and communities, with an emphasis on programs that build capacity and confidence towards healing, resilience and self-reliance.
Clinical Manager, Katrina Ikonomou said the loan of the MG HS has been incredibly helpful in helping the small team to extend their reach even further.
“The MG HS has been an amazing asset to us,” she said.
Katrina and Social Worker, Jessica Grace run Gunawirra’s Mothers Group every week which brings Indigenous families together to learn about culture, focus on healing, and help to build a connection with their families.
While the program has been highly successful, getting mothers and their children to and from the group meeting has been an issue. Until now.
“Our biggest problem with our mums and bubs is actually getting the mums to the location we are at, there’s not a lot of public transport options and a lot of them have little children and it isn’t feasible for them to be constantly taking their kids on public transport or trying to organise an Uber or taxi,” Katrina said.
“The MG HS has given us the opportunity to pick up mums and babies and bring them to the site, make sure they get the connection and services they need, and also be able to take them home safely.”
“Finding a taxi, let alone one with a car seat, was hard and also very expensive, they are also very impersonal, a lot of our clients come from a trauma background and having a stranger drive them wasn’t an ideal situation.”
“It’s given us a lot of flexibility that we never had prior to this.”
Now with the MG HS, clients are getting directly picked up by Katrina and Jess, it gives them a whole other level of comfort, as they already have those pre-established relationships with one another.
It creates a real safety net for the clients according to Katrina.
"It has made the clients not feel so much pressure when they've had to cancel last minute, in the past we've had community services help us with transport, but when a mum has had to cancel it would often throw the transport company off schedule."
"The mums feel a lot more secure and happy now about being able to cancel if they need."
Katrina said she loves the modern features of the HS and said the stylish interior only adds to the comfortability for the families when they get picked up.
"The MG HS is a very nice car, a very modern car, it's saved us a lot of hassle as well, it's given us a ton of options and opportunities to do things we couldn't do as easily as before."
"We always want our things to be up to date, up to standard, and overall, very safe. Picking up families in a car that looks nice also just makes them feel good."
Every day at Gunawirra is inspiring according to Katrina, and seeing the growth of the women they work with on a daily basis only drives them to continue doing what they do.
"My passion is really having the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids being proud in their identity."
"It's ahout making kids proud in who they are, being aware of who they are, knowing their history, knowing their culture so they can grow up to be future leaders."
"At Gunawirra we always say culture is at the heart of everything we do."
Find out more about Gunawirra and what they do here. Check out the MG HS today, book in a test drive and find out why they love it.
Formed in 2008, Gunawirra is a community-led organisation that works closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, children and communities, with an emphasis on programs that build capacity and confidence towards healing, resilience and self-reliance.
Clinical Manager, Katrina Ikonomou said the loan of the MG HS has been incredibly helpful in helping the small team to extend their reach even further.
“The MG HS has been an amazing asset to us,” she said.
Katrina and Social Worker, Jessica Grace run Gunawirra’s Mothers Group every week which brings Indigenous families together to learn about culture, focus on healing, and help to build a connection with their families.
While the program has been highly successful, getting mothers and their children to and from the group meeting has been an issue. Until now.
“Our biggest problem with our mums and bubs is actually getting the mums to the location we are at, there’s not a lot of public transport options and a lot of them have little children and it isn’t feasible for them to be constantly taking their kids on public transport or trying to organise an Uber or taxi,” Katrina said.
“The MG HS has given us the opportunity to pick up mums and babies and bring them to the site, make sure they get the connection and services they need, and also be able to take them home safely.”
“Finding a taxi, let alone one with a car seat, was hard and also very expensive, they are also very impersonal, a lot of our clients come from a trauma background and having a stranger drive them wasn’t an ideal situation.”
“It’s given us a lot of flexibility that we never had prior to this.”
Now with the MG HS, clients are getting directly picked up by Katrina and Jess, it gives them a whole other level of comfort, as they already have those pre-established relationships with one another.
It creates a real safety net for the clients according to Katrina.
"It has made the clients not feel so much pressure when they've had to cancel last minute, in the past we've had community services help us with transport, but when a mum has had to cancel it would often throw the transport company off schedule."
"The mums feel a lot more secure and happy now about being able to cancel if they need."
Katrina said she loves the modern features of the HS and said the stylish interior only adds to the comfortability for the families when they get picked up.
"The MG HS is a very nice car, a very modern car, it's saved us a lot of hassle as well, it's given us a ton of options and opportunities to do things we couldn't do as easily as before."
"We always want our things to be up to date, up to standard, and overall, very safe. Picking up families in a car that looks nice also just makes them feel good."
Every day at Gunawirra is inspiring according to Katrina, and seeing the growth of the women they work with on a daily basis only drives them to continue doing what they do.
"My passion is really having the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids being proud in their identity."
"It's ahout making kids proud in who they are, being aware of who they are, knowing their history, knowing their culture so they can grow up to be future leaders."
"At Gunawirra we always say culture is at the heart of everything we do."
Find out more about Gunawirra and what they do here. Check out the MG HS today, book in a test drive and find out why they love it.
