Every night in Victoria there are many children who don’t have a safe and loving home. Meli provides foster care services for these children in need.
Our region urgently needs more people who can provide a safe, stable and nurturing home environment for a child or young person who cannot live at home with their parents or extended family. And even if you only have a few hours a fortnight to spare, you can make an impact on a child of young person’s life with Meli.
Children and young people requiring foster care can be of any age (up to 18 years), and can come from various cultural, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Foster carers can provide:
- Overnight or emergency care
- Respite to parents or other foster carers one weekend a month or once a fortnight
- Short term care (up to 6 months)
- Long term care (more than 6 months)
Individuals, couples and families from all backgrounds, with or without children, who are working or not working can become foster carers.
For those who have thought about being a foster carer, but now isn’t quite the right time, can join the Meli Children’s Village. It is aimed at enhancing the experience of vulnerable children and young people in Meli’s Out of Home Care program by building a support network for foster carer families.
Not everyone can be a foster carer, but the Children’s Village is a way for people in the Geelong region to volunteer as little as a couple of hours a month for a rewarding experience in supporting children and young people in our community.
Volunteers or “villagers” become part of an extended “family unit” like aunts, uncles, grandparents and other trusted adults by taking on simple and practical activities with a child in care.
A villager could help with school drop-off and pick-up, after school activities, homework and mentoring. This will create positive opportunities for children and young people, while also giving carers time off from caring so they can go out, cook, or catch up on jobs.
Meli is hosting a number of information sessions at the following Geelong Regional Libraries locations:
- Geelong – Thursday 13 April from 10am – 11am
- Corio – Thursday 27 April from 10am – 11am
- Ocean Grove – Thursday 4 May from 11am – midday
- Torquay – Monday 22 May from 10am – 11am
- Bannockburn – Thursday 8 June from 10.30am – 11.30am
- Lara – Thursday 22 June from 11am – midday
If you can’t make it to a Library information session but would like to find out more about this volunteer opportunity, please contact Meli on 03 5226 8900 or visit our website.
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