Emma Price is the manager of Duke Street Community House in Sunshine. She spoke to Sam Porter about her work and her community.
What do you like about Brimbank?
I love our community, the diversity and the sense of pride people have about living in Sunshine. I love the passionate and community-minded organisations, businesses and charities we partner and collaborate with to all work together to build and support community. Most of all I love the local community members who just want the best for their community, those who give up their time to volunteer to make Brimbank even better. We currently have 49 volunteers that support the work of our community house. We couldn’t do it without them, and it’s a privilege to work alongside them.
What, if anything, would you change about Brimbank?
A lot of our community are going through a really tough time at the moment, it’s very devastating to see people experiencing hardship, homelessness and financial distress. We are working hard to play our role in addressing need where we can. We feed hundreds of community members each week through our food relief program and in the last financial year distributed over 100,000kg of food and 12 pallets of material aid to people in need. My hope (and it’s a pretty big hope) is for systematic change where services like ours are no longer needed, and people have access to safe housing and affordable food.
Where is your favourite local place to spend time?
At our community house, of course! It’s a beautiful welcoming space where people can connect, access education, information, support and referral. Where you can pop in for a coffee or just to use our Wi-Fi. There’s always a great fun, positive energy in our classes. I like to see the amazing creations of our crafternoon and expressive arts programs and join in the infectious laughter of our women’s group. For a small house it’s a very dynamic and happening space, no two days are the same.
What’s something people would be surprised to know about you?
Next month I am off to walk nearly the whole width of Spain and complete (fingers crossed!) the 780km of the Camino De Santiago over 41 days.
What do you like about working at Duke Street Community House?
Duke Street Community House is a pretty special place to work. It is very unassuming from the street, but behind the doors and across the other sites we deliver programs from, it’s pretty amazing what the small house and small team achieve. I love that we can have a positive impact on people’s lives, be it big or small. Our fantastic neighbourhood house is located just opposite the South Road shops on Duke Street. We’ve been operating from our house for 52 years, offering programs, classes, activities and services to meet the needs of our local community. I’m proud to be able to continue to the legacy of all the great people that have come before me; staff, volunteers, committee members and house users.
