Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Services
Association of Polish Women Inc., through its specialised welfare and aged care programs, has been providing high quality community service and care to multicultural communities of Western Australia since 1982. It is a non-profit charitable organisation with an honorary Board of Management comprised of members of the Association.
Our specialised aged and disabled care programs, RAINBOW and UMBRELLA, are managed by a Committee comprised of members from the ethnic communities involved with these programs. We assist older people, carers and people with disabilities from 26 European communities including: Austrian, Bosnian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lathuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, and Ukrainian.
Seven years ago, funding was obtained for 40 Community Aged Care Packages called the "Rainbow" program. Funding for HACC took three years to obtain. Initially one-off funding was obtained and now HACC funding totals $400,000 and is called the "Umbrella" program. HACC services include: domestic assistance, social support, day care, meals on wheels (self-funding), home maintenance, respite care, transport, and assessment hours. The agency employs 68 staff (including 35 volunteers). Meals are also provided on a brokerage basis. A physiotherapist comes in on a fortnightly basis. Offices in two locations exist. Brokerage services are also provided, with a total turnover last year of $40,000. The agency provides the Community Visitors Scheme.
The Association of Polish Women Inc. Committee of Management has aged in recent years and a significant restructure is currently occurring in view of that fact to ensure that the management structure can respond appropriately to the challenges of managing significant community programs. There are also plans regarding residential care starting with a retirement village. Out of the 9000 Poles in WA, 7000 are in the 70+ age group.