Zonta Club of Noosa’s International Women’s Day breakfast held at the Boathouse Restaurant on Monday was a standout and sold-out event.
After some impressive background music by local musician Emma Tomlinson, the audience was awestruck by the morning’s guest speakers Dr Nova Evans and RN Sonia Goodwin from Sunny Street mobile outreach unit that provides healthcare for homeless and vulnerable individuals and families on the Sunshine Coast.
Zonta Noosa president Margaret Fisher said the talented and inspirational women gave a dynamic presentation providing an insight into Sunny Street and the true extent of the challenges faced by the underprivileged in our community.
“While homeless men account for the largest demographic, it was heartbreaking to hear that girls and younger women comprise the second biggest group of patients, many as young as eight. Incredibly, some older patients have not seen a doctor for over 30 years,“ she said.
“We are acting to change the stigma over homelessness and trying to get our patients back into mainstream health,” Dr Evans told the women. “We started with a medical model, but soon realised people wanted to be heard more than anything. We now encourage a patient-led, conversation-based model of care.”
2018 government data indicates that more than 116,000 Australians are homeless, 12 percent of whom are Queensland women. There are 1600 homeless estimated to be on the Sunshine Coast alone with the main causes of homelessness being poverty, unaffordable rents, and family violence.
Ms Fisher said she was excited by the feedback Zonta received on the work they are doing in the Noosa Community.
“We see our support for projects like Sunny Street as extremely important. We also provide support to a variety of other community projects including scholarships for girls at our local colleges. It was great to hear two of the young students from Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Natasha Purcell and Katelyn Dyer, speak so eloquently today about the issues facing women in our communities. It was also great to have Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart with us, alongside Cr Amelia Lorentson and Cr Karen Finzel.”
IWD is celebrated around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political. The UN declares International Women’s Day as “a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.”
For more information visit zontadistrict22.org/district-22-clubs/zonta-club-of-noosa-inc
