Chinese Young Mothers' Group
"a detailed and clear explanation giving us great inspiration and encouragement"
Ewinia Huang, Chinese Young Mothers' Group
When Ewinia Huang arrived in Australia as a young mother from China, she was "very stressed and helpless". Having no family in Australia and limited English language skills, she struggled to find her feet in Melbourne. When she was connected with some community workers, her situation turned around.
Ewinia's experience of the positive impact of community help inspired her to start up a monthly meeting of a small group of Chinese mothers. They discussed the challenges of parenting,moving to a new country and offered each other support, information and friendship.
The group quickly began to grow, and became known as the Chinese Young Mothers' Group. By 2012, 30 regular members attended the monthly meetings, based out of the Collingwood Neighbourhood Justice Centre.
As the group expanded, they began to offer structured programs including excursions, presentations, and holiday programs. They now provide information about services, legal issues, women's health, and childcare options. They have started raising funds to support Chinese families struggling to pay for school excursions and activities for their children.
As the group realised they had identified a real need the community, and required more funds, they considered whether a formal structure could support and protect their growth, but they did not understand their incorporation options and the processes involved. The City of Yarra connected the Chinese Young Mother's Group with PilchConnect to participate in a pilot education program on incorporation for groups with cultural and linguistic diversity.
PilchConnect's senior training lawyer, Stephanie Tonkin, used pictures, diagrams and the assistance of a translator, to introduce the legal concepts of incorporation to group members.
Ewinia said, "I appreciate Stephanie coming to us. She made us think about how to develop our group and gave us very good ideas and good information."
The Chinese Young Mothers' Group now plans to incorporate. As an incorporated association, it will be able to seek grant funding, expand its activities, and protect its members and committee from liability.
Ewinia says, "the Mothers' Group is my friend and also my family. I get a lot of support."
PilchConnect's Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Community Group Training Project is funded by a grant from the Edith Kemp Memorial Trust Fund and Ivy H & Arthur Thomas and Pam & Alfred Lavey Trust (administered by Equity Trustees).
PilchConnect Senior Training Lawyer, Stephanie Tonkin, and the Chinese Young Mothers' Group