Full Circle and Reconciliation Awards – UnitingCare Queensland

Last Friday night, UnitingCare Queensland celebrated the outstanding achievements of their amazingly talented staff, at the sixth Full Circle and Reconciliation Awards.  The night opened with a heartfelt Welcome to Country given by young Aaron Ruska, where he acknowledged God’s presence in these lands and confirmed that Welcome to Country is not something that has been made to profit, but a deliberate and respectful act of acknowledging those who have cared for creation for generations.

So many innovative and deeply caring people were recognised during the night, but I wish to focus on two today.

Both belong to the Reconciliation category, and they acknowledge contributions to building healthy communities and leadership.

The winner of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership award was given to a collaboration of First and Second peoples, through the Kabi Kabi Indigenous Employment Initiative.

This initiative involved Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners and Elders, the UCQ Property Team, young Kabi Kabi and Wakka Wakka peoples and Ny Ku Byun Elders Village.

We know, the way to change the trajectory of our lives is through supported access to ongoing employment, education and housing and to live your life with Christ centred values, respect for culture and a true desire to learn and grow in a new version of yourself.

The Kabi Kabi Horticulture trainee collaboration program has this in spades, pardon the pun!  Four young men, and their supporting managers are having their lives transformed in this eighteen-month program.

Managers are gaining an appreciation for taking a culturally informed road that twists and turns and supports an adaptive approach to overcoming obstacles and offers a great scope of mutual learning and respectful relationship.The trainees are gaining computer skills, horticultural knowledge and a greater understanding of the responsibilities you assume within your community as an emerging leader.

This program us not just about training young men to be able to offer gardening services.  It is a program that has brought together First and Second peoples, who have shared time living in neighbouring communities, but have not known each other before.  It has created space for deep listening to occur, for vulnerability to be shown towards each other and for people who were strangers to become friends and colleagues.

The winner of the Healthy Communities category was the inspirational Kabi Kabi Traditional Owner and Elder, Aunty Beverley Mucken.  Aunty Beverley leads with heart, honour and courage, and her leadership within 13YARN has led to many First Peoples who are suffering through crisis, being supported through culturally appropriate crisis care.

Building healthy communities is best served when people can see themselves and their cultural values reflected within the care service being offered.   Aunty Beverly and 13YARN, does the co-creative and adaptive work required to unite complex cultural knowledge teamed with current mainstream clinical crisis support offerings.

We are incredibly proud of all who have supported the works involved in both programs -  there are too many to name, but you know who you are.  Thank you for your commitment to keep pushing forward through challenges and to walking together in creating expressions of self-determined ways of being within a corporate context.