Doncare and EACH partner to expand counselling services the Manningham community.

Individuals and families will have access to a high-quality FREE service by very experienced and qualified therapists assisting people in the Manningham area to make the first step in addressing highly stigmatised issues of addiction be it AOD or Gambling. There are seven gaming venues in the municipality and on average $153,746 was lost to pokies each day in Manningham in 2016. “Alarmingly, over 53% of 15-17 year olds consumed alcohol in the last 30 days and over 13% used marijuana” Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Research Paper. Gambling and Alcohol and drug dependency are often symptoms of or triggers to mental health issues. The adverse effects can be associated with road trauma, employment, assault and family violence.

Bernie Durkin, General Manager, EACH Regional Counselling and Doncare CEO, Doreen Stoves AM PSM JP share a mutual understanding of the causal factors of disadvantage and the societal change and action required to support people experiencing economic and social disadvantage in our community. EACH and Doncare initiated the collaboration in response to community needs with a focus on providing an avenue for people to access integrated services in one location. This stems from the mutual understanding that social issues rarely have single causes of outcomes, but rather are complex, and requiring attention on many fronts to engineer change for the individual. The issue that clients are struggling with are often complex. Family separation, loss of employment, domestic violence, mortgage stress, medical assistance, bereavement, social isolation, parents struggling to find work, immigration, single parents on reduced income from Centrelink due to cuts in parenting payments. Increased rent and utility costs continue to drive the demand for help which have outstripped increases in government support for struggling families. “It is our experience that when people are struggling with one issue in their lives it can escalate to a more complex situation if help is not available quickly – with this mix of services working together, it is our hope that people can receive what they need promptly and get on with their lives” Bernie said.

EACH is a not-for-profit NGO with a specialist focus on a comprehensive range of services that address physical, mental and psychosocial needs at a community and primary care level. Doreen Stoves is “delighted the partnership with EACH further enhances the holistic and comprehensive nature of the services available at Doncare and enable seamless cross referral for clients with multiple needs across the two organisations.”

To access AOD Counselling services, please call EACH 1300 007 873 or Gamblers Help Intake 1300 131 973