When women and children come into Bonnie’s they often arrive with little or none of their belongings. It’s often just a bag with whatever they could grab when they were leaving. In the case of Emma, and her 6 month old twins and 8 year old, they had nothing but the clothes on their backs. […]
read moreOn-call
Not everyone knows this about us, but we have a 24hr, 7 days a week, on-call service. The purpose of the on-call service is to respond to emergencies experienced by our clients and to answer calls from external agencies and referrers. I can still clearly remember the first time I was rostered on to do […]
read moreSpirit woman
I started making my spirit woman about 6 months ago. I find arts and craft very therapeutic and I create different things on a regular basis as a part of both my self-care and a love for creating art. I paid a visit into the recycling place in town and came across the cotton reels. […]
read moreWhat comes next
We know leaving domestic violence is never easy, but what we don’t often talk about is how hard the ‘what comes next’ part can be too. Recently I worked with a Mum with three small children who were doing it tough. Mum had no friends or family in Australia, no support network and no job. […]
read moreThe final piece
When I first met Jenny and her 5 children, they were on the brink of homelessness. Eviction loomed and they had nowhere to go. A single mum and 5 kids, looking for a place in today’s housing crisis? Definitely not the easiest. So they came to Bonnie’s. We were able to help them move into […]
read moreSimon’s story
Being roughly one year into my job, I was very excited when Tracy asked me to join the team at the annual DVNSW conference. This is a 2 day conference where everyone who works with domestic and family violence and homelessness comes together to share knowledge, ideas and ways we can improve the work we […]
read moreBreaking Patterns
I’m Anyce, the new family worker here at Bonnie’s. In my role, I help women and children who are escaping domestic violence find safety, freedom and a better life. Even though I’m only a few weeks into the job, it feels like I’ve been doing it forever… Because well, I kind of have. In the […]
read moreWhat is home?
I am not a person who always likes change, but this year has been different. Earlier this year I moved out of my beloved house that I’ve owned for years, and now I’m moving again. In my case, I am fortunate that there are many good things that come with this, but it is still […]
read moreThen and Now, Bonnie’s 20+ years ago
It was 1996 and Diane was just 21 when she first started working at Bonnie’s. During her time there she saw Bonnie Women’s Refuge, a small grassroots feminist collective, begin to transition into the community organisation Bonnie Support Services is today. Lisabel Zoomed in with Diane to hear stories about her time at Bonnie’s. Hey […]
read moreWe’ll hold each other’s hands through this
Hi Bonnie’s Blog readers, This is my first blog, so I thought I’d introduce myself: I’m Georgia, a member of the DVRE and Covid Response team at Bonnie Support Services. I didn’t always work with women or in social work, I was actually in hospitality marketing before I got the job here. I took the […]
read moreMy Mornings are Mine
This blog was written in reflection on our Happiness Is… campaign. A series of illustrations that celebrate the seemingly ‘small’ but powerful moments women experience when they are free from domestic violence. Read Program Manager An’s, Happiness Is… moment below: Every morning, I’m always rushing. I wake up around 6am, usually to a toddler’s foot on […]
read moreThe 2 Week Rule
My first client here at Bonnie’s was an experience I will never forget, a young mum with three children who had escaped an abusive marriage. When I first met this particular family, mum was clearly overwhelmed. She was stressed, she was tired. She had lived in different refuges for almost two years and her seven-year-old […]
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