Message from
the Chair and
Manager
It has been another busy year for all the staff
at Community Support Frankston (CSF) as we
continue to grow our services and reach more
people in Frankston who have fallen on tough
times. Requests for assistance from new and
existing clients continue to grow following the
closure of meals and other related services.
In turn, these reductions have made CSF’s
role in assisting some of Frankston’s most
disadvantaged more crucial than ever in our 49
year history.
With volunteers in Australia now asked to
contribute more than ever, it is only through the
commitment and dedication of our volunteers
that we are able to respond to the increased
community call for help in Frankston. This year,
CSF’s 114 volunteers contributed a combined
15,372 hours into our services, representing a
15% increase in both volunteer numbers and
hours since our last report. Valuing our volunteer
contribution is more than a dollar sign and it is
important to acknowledge that more than half
a million dollars of in-kind volunteer hours went
into keeping CSF a strong and vibrant service.
“Community Support
Frankston, inspired by
nearly half a century of
volunteer community
workers, seeks the common
good through the fair and
equitable treatment of
our community’s most
vulnerable members. We
believe in providing services
that are impartial and
supportive of all diversity
and the right to a fair share
of Frankston’s resources for
all people.”
Over the past 12 months CSF has met challenges
and remains responsive to changing community
needs. When meals, shower and other services
were disappearing from Frankston, we did
not step away from our responsibility and
accountability to some of our community’s most
vulnerable people. We have worked hard to
establish new partnerships and worked alongside
others to welcome new services to Frankston -
including mobile meals and a shower service –
while also creating new opportunities for local
groups and businesses to get more involved with
the important work of CSF.
Co-location of the Bolton Clarke (formerly Royal
District Nursing Service) Homeless Persons
Program nurse, Kathy Rodis, in July 2016 added
tremendous value to our service and was in part
a response to the increasing number of people
presenting at CSF with general health-related
problems. Unfortunately, those experiencing
absolute poverty struggle to access even basic
nutritional requirements to support a minimum
level of physical health, and our partnership with
the Homeless Persons Program continues to be
strong and successful.
This relationship is one of many that have come
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The measure of a community is how it treats its most vulnerable members