Supporting Families Through Food Insecurity
Many families in Victoria are finding it tough to afford healthy food due to rising living costs. In Werribee, Wyndham Park Community Centre (WPCC) is stepping up to help.
For over four years, WPCC has been running a food relief program every Thursday morning. This program welcomes everyone—from young families and retirees to refugees and individuals facing hard times. It’s not just about providing food; it’s about bringing people together and offering support.
A recent survey showed that more than half of the people using WPCC’s food program have skipped meals or eaten less because of money problems. Nearly a third don’t have basic kitchen equipment like ovens or fridges. Despite these challenges, 83% said that WPCC’s help ensures they have enough to eat. This highlights how important WPCC is to the community.
WPCC would like to acknowledge and thank Minister Ros Spence for the recent support from the Victorian Government through DFFH. This funding for the current year of food relief at our centre will go a long way to improving the financial sustainability of our food relief programme which helps so many people in so many ways each week. As we monitor and evaluate the impact of our service we aim to demonstrate how important it is for services to have broad ongoing support as well as methods and capacity to address food insecurity in more holistic ways.
The board, staff, and volunteers believe that access to healthy food is a basic human right and are pushing for changes to make nutritious food available and affordable for all Victorians.
Last year, WPCC made a detailed submission to the Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria. This submission reflected what we see as the challenges faced by local residents and potential ways these issues can be better understood and addressed. See our submission to the Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria here: WPCC Food Security Inquiry Submission. 26.07.2024
In November, the final report was released and you can see a copy of this report from the Parliament of Victoria here: Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria November 2024
