We thought that you might like to know how we are progressing with the move into the new HQ at 2-4 Vale Street.


We are well on track to be ready to open up in Term Two.


Here are some of the amazing people who offered to help us with the fit out. First up is Oliver from  OM painting & decorating. He has been house sitting in the apartment building next to Middy's and he knows one of our volunteers. On Sunday he offered to paint the exterior of the building....

and this is how great it looks now!...







...then there is this amazing man Bruce Atkinson, a retired property developer, and Dad to our fundraising manager Fiona, has been at the HQ nearly every day of the week to help us with handy jobs...thank you Bruce!!!






This is Linton from Plasterstud Interiors who provided $4000 worth of plastering and labour, pictured here with our builder James Bawden, who introduced us and arranged for this amazing donation and many others utilising his extensive networks in the building trade....





Stratco have donated pool fencing to keep our volunteer's children safe in their play area....





And James has patched holes in the roof, replaced and rehung doors, and done all manner of building work over the past couple of weeks....in between caring for his new baby girl Amelia pictured here with his wife Kim...thank you James!







And a big thanks to Shaynna Blaze who organised a donation of 50 litres of interior and exterior paint from Taubmans Australia....super generous of them...
 

and Damien and his team from Salesforce who applied the first coat of paint....






followed by a crew from Davidson Technology who also painted and cleaned....





and Kleenmaid donated this dishwasher...no more doing the dishes by hand - what a luxury!

And in the next week we shall have Air Conditioning installed in the bundling room donated by Dan and Raf from Daikin, and new LED lighting to replace the fluorescents from Sengled Lighting!



Thank you for your continued support! We can't wait to share all the before and after photos with you, but there is still quite a bit of work left to do, which we hope to complete over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime is has been business as usual at number 5 Vale Street, distributing essential baby gear to families in need and making sure we respond to requests for help quickly.

We even managed to distribute a couple of green prams on St Patrick's Day...Dannielle, Merilyn and Kristi are three very special volunteers who really got into the spirit of the day....





Naomi from City of Yarra and Emelia from Yooralla Disability Services are both working with the mum who will receive this gorgeous Baby Jogger pram below. The pram will enable her to get out and about safely and with ease. 






This is Mohammed picking up a van full of items for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants being supported by Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre. Welcome to the world baby girls and boys!







We received this thank you note from a Maternal Child Health Nurse recently...


"I just wanted to say thank you for all the support that you give to our families here. Many of our mums are single parent mums and domestic violence and isolation is a significant factor within our community. 

Our wonderful outreach MCHN, along with another family support worker frequently come to your organisation and gets bits and pieces from St Kilda Mums to give to our families. They are then often passed onto me to give to the specific families when they come to kindergarten with their child.

Often the look on the mums’s faces when they see these donations are amazing. They often check with me “are these for me really?” and they are always so happy with their items. Recently we sourced a pram from you for a mum here, just getting out of the house, let alone to kindergarten with her old pram was really difficult. Often our mums live in the walk up flats, which have four levels, so you can imagine even get up and down the stairs with a baby, toddler and kindergarten child is a huge effort as there are no lifts, just stairs.

The double stroller has enabled the mum to have the two smaller ones in the pram, and she told me last week that when her child is at kinder, she can now walk over to the shops and get her shopping without having to try and carry one bub and put the other in the pram and balance the shopping. This then reduces isolation for that mum and just her whole sense of self, seems so much better.

Thank you so very much for all the work you do, I see her on a first hand basis the difference you make to lives of our families. Thank you to the volunteers who support you. I hope you reach beyond your appeal to rent out the property across from you and thank you again. Often our roles here are complex and the families with work with often have complex needs, however knowing that there are organisations such as yours, who can support our families is fantastic. You make such a difference to the lives of mums and families."





Back by popular demand is our Mother's Day campaign...




If you would like to let another mother know you are thinking of her on Mother's Day - go shopping!

She might be living in a refuge; her house might have burnt down, she might be homeless. She needs your help! It's super easy...just follow these five simple steps...

1. Make up a gift bag of women's toiletries - choose a nice toiletry bag and fill it with everything you can think of missing if you had nothing. 

2. Include a note or card for another mother to let her know that you care

3. Take a photo of your gift pack and post it on facebook, twitter or instagram using the hashtag #onemothertoanother

4. Pack in a small bag or box and please include your name and address so that we can send you a thank you note. 

5. Post to 5 Vale Street, St Kilda 3182 or drop it off during our opening times anytime during Term Two before Mother's Day weekend.

We will distribute your gorgeous gift to a mum in need. 

Please share this with your friends....and we have created a poster that you might like to put up at school or work.

We also have booked 'Mother's Day' the movie at the Elsternwick Classic on Friday the 6th of May, and we sure hope that you can join us then. Tickets are for sale now, via our website, and all proceeds will help provide safe and clean nursery equipment, clothing and linen to families experiencing hardship.

Get a group of friends together and click here to secure your seats...thank you!

 

Thank you again for everything that you do to help keep babies and children safe. 

We are nothing without you!

Cheers Jessie


PS if you have any questions about our opening hours over the Easter Holiday please email donate@stkildamums.org. Thank you!