THE LIVEWELL Hervey Bay podcast recently sat down Tanya Stevenson, CEO of Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre (HBNC). 

The HBNC operates across four sites with over 30 programs, 68 staff members and 381 volunteers.  

They have five service streams which include multicultural, children/family/youth, aged/inclusion, enterprise/development, and operations. 

“Organisation-led programs are government funded to deliver a specific project that they've already set up for us to deliver, like maybe a counselling service or a transport service,” Tanya said. 

“But the best outcomes come from our community-led programs and our Pitch Nights, they're the ones where we really get great ideas from the community.” 

“They're grassroots ideas with local community members banding together to then create some social change.” 

“That's where the neighbourhood centre and most neighbourhood centres try to sit. We always try and connect with community led initiatives before then just running off and doing something. So organisational led always has a place.” 

“You need professional services, qualified people for certain roles, but a lot of the time informal support is actually a lot more impactful when you can get a group of community members to bring other people together to make change”. 

“We have 127 neighbourhood centres in Queensland, so they like to say there's more neighbourhood centres than McDonald's in Queensland.” 

“We are one of the largest neighbourhood centres in Queensland, I think that is because we have made such a great connection with the community.” 

“Everything that we do has always come from an idea from a community member and we support them to then grow that into a program.” 

“This is where Social Shift is a perfect example of that, it’s the community coming and asking for money to get their idea up and running.” 

“We have some really great people out there with some great ideas that we can copy. Everything that we've done has been from someone else.” 

“It's not really about the money. You don't always need to wait for money to get things happening.” 

“One of our best and my favourite projects is our Read Bears program, it costs us nothing.” 

“We started with three pilot schools where they give each year one student a little knitted bear and the kids then read to that bear every single night.” 

“It creates a third person where the kid's are more likely to read to the bear and the parents are also more likely to be engaged because they got to read to the bear.” 

“We now have 18 schools across Queensland and its growing.” 

We have a great community here but many new residents struggle to connect and leave within months. 

“We have started hosting welcome dinners which helps new residents meet people and get involved with groups to build belonging.” 

It is very evident we have a housing crisis her in Hervey Bay and the HBNC have played a great part in helping this. 

“This is very much on our radar at the moment, It's one of our biggest issues.” 

“We have many successful outcomes in our community with multiple people doing really simple things to help address the crisis.” 

“The Comfort Kitchen, The Bless Box, The Sleepbus and not to mention the success of the Bay Biggest Sleepout, raising funds to build a van to provide laundry and shower service.” 

The Comfort Kitchen feeds approximately 120 people every Wednesday. 

“To see the elderly mixed with the families through to the homeless in a nice, safe, happy atmosphere is satisfying.” 

“They sit at the large tables and the volunteers serve them like a restaurant. It's a nice experience for them and those that just cannot afford to be doing that right now.” 

A major win for Tanya and Councillor Jade Wellings was changing local laws to allow backyard caravans to be used as temporary accommodation at the family home. 

“Illuminate is about to kick off again. This is our second year of running. And I think it's one of our most successful programs in engaging our business sector, sharing their knowledge with the general public.” 

“Last year we did 100 Days of Innovation and Creativity, we had over 120 workshops delivered in 100 days, and over 1400 people attended those workshops.” 

What does Tanya want her legacy to be in many years to come? 

“To definitely be where we are at, we're creating connected communities. We're making sure that we are connected to the community in everything that we do.” 

Interested in volunteering visit the HBNC website https://www.hbnc.com.au/Listing/Category/volunteering