St Paul’s African House has received a $30,000 grant from the Greater Shepparton Foundation to keep its doors open, something the facility has struggled with due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional funding is still needed and the facility is calling out for more support to ensure the venue stays open in the long term.
Community member Gracia Musafiri said the funding meant there was “still hope” for the African community of Shepparton.
“When COVID hit that's when it really went downhill because we weren't getting a lot of hiring ... and that's where most of our funding came from so when that wasn't happening we started using all the savings that we had," she said.
“This is the place that we know to come to if we need help, if we’re struggling with anything, if we want to feel closer to home, this is where we can, because we know that there’s so many different cultures that are represented here.”
Ms Musafiri came from Congo to Australia in 2006 when she was eight and sees African House as a safe space.
“A lot of people (in the African community) do feel a bit misunderstood, you can sort of be your African self and talk about things back home, and, keeping that culture alive,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s hard ... You go to school, as a young child, and you’re the only African person there, you sort of don’t feel that connection.”
Partnerships and programs manager Kate Radevski said the grant would help operational costs, including wages to keep African House open for residents.
She said it would also help make events and programs African House planned to hold until the middle of the year possible.
“It will enable us to deliver on a number of other programs that we’ve also sought some additional funding for as well, but without the place being open, we wouldn’t be able to deliver those programs,” she said.
“We’ll have somebody dedicated here who will be assisting African community members in employment, and we will also be able to run our yearly festival, A Taste of African Cultures, again.”
Ms Radevski said the organisation was “screaming out for more funding” so the community could also see more African members in leadership positions for the organisation.
“In the past, we’ve had a number of African employees, and that’s the model that we want to go back to,” she said.
GV South Sudanese Community Association president Isaac Madan also hoped for more funding so he could see initiatives like the community garden return.
“We had a community garden at the back, growing a lot of vegetables and different plants from Africa,’’ he said.