PeelConnect have launched a new service to continue their efforts helping disadvantaged community members.
Known as MACS (Mentoring, Advocacy, Counselling and Support), the service provides access to mentoring for those experiencing homelessness in Mandurah and counselling by donation for locals with limited access to this support due to finances, long wait times or transport.
The organisation hosted a morning tea on March 20 at their Billy Dower Youth Centre office to launch the new service, which will expand their abilities to help the homeless in Mandurah.
A team currently made up of five volunteer mentors and five volunteer counsellors work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to offer support.
As part of their assistance, they visit the Peel Community Kitchen to connect with community members who utilise the kitchen. Their office is also open those days to offer counselling from qualified counsellors.
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PeelConnect chairman Ron Withnell said the service was a great addition to the assistance the organisation already provide.
"This just adds one more powerful arm to what we're doing at PeelConnect," he said.
Coordinator Doreen Jones said MACS would be instrumental in providing a safe and confidential environment for those that need it most.
"One of the things that we're finding is that what is really critical is for [the homeless] to be heard, to be seen," she said.
"They really appreciate having someone to listen to them.
"We're a person-centred model so it is led by the client, we are not pushing anything on anybody and we are just there to support them.
"Even if our support is limited to just just visiting and listening at the kitchen or down at the foreshore, then I still believe and I know that our team is doing brilliant work."
Alcoa have contributed funding to cover operational expenses for the first two years of MACS' service.
PeelConnect was started in 2017 by Reg Lambert, who spent 30 years delivering emotional support and vital supplies to Mandurah's homeless.
