Our story
It all started in 2000. Our lovely neighbours gathered on Quarry Green, in front of the Uniting Harris Community Centre, for the first SecondHand Saturday event. We got some great bargains buying, selling and exchanging pre-loved items, connected with old and new friends, and enjoyed a sausage sizzle together. We loved being in the park, surrounded by magnificent trees and a vibrant, joyful sense of community. We felt so glad that things did not go to waste. So we kept putting on SecondHand Saturdays every year, for the next decade and more.
Meanwhile, we witnessed amazing things happening around us. A solar panel on a neighbour’s roof, a shared worm farm down the street, more and more community gardens. We also encountered loss and grief, seeing beloved trees being cut down, and bushfire smoke hovering above.
And we wondered – what else could we do?
In 2015, we welcomed our first social work student on board as an intern. The Centre has been a grassroots social work training centre since, aspiring to establish green social work and sustainable community development as essential parts of social work and community development practice. Fast-forward to 2020, one annual event has grown into a full environmental initiative, with a dedicated team of community advocates, volunteers, social work and community development professionals and students.
Now and together, we are here for the same mission:
We want to build a sustainable and empowered community, who can act together for the systemic change that we need in response to climate change.
We stand hand in hand with the community and as part of the community, to exercise our responsibility for social and ecological justice. Thank you for hearing our story, and we look forward to you joining this journey.
In solidarity,
Green Social Work Community Hub
Uniting Harris Community Centre
Values & approach
Green
We uphold environmental justice, green social work and sustainable development values and principles.
We promote environmental literacy, ethical and environmentally conscious professional practices and sustainable lifestyles across all people involved in our initiatives and beyond.
Social
We work with people from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life.
We value the wealth of life histories, cultures, worldviews, motivations and expertise every person can bring.
Work
We actively pursue opportunities to collaborate with organisations and groups to support their sustainable community development projects and environmental advocacy campaigns.
We prioritise collaborating with local partners, facilitating zero-waste events and working paper-less.
Community
We believe that social movement-based education and collaborative learning are an essential part of systemic change.
We use strengths-based, bottom-up, empowering and capacity building frameworks to support partners in their project design, implementation and evaluation.
Hub
We focus on facilitating meaningful partnerships and place-making, to create a collaborative space for social work practitioners and students, community development professionals, environmental advocates and volunteers to access a wide range of opportunities.
Our team
Oscar Sanchez
Centre Coordinator, Uniting Harris Community Centre
Qualified Community Worker (ACWA)
LinkedIn
Frankie Yue Zheng
Program Coordinator, Green Social Work Community Hub
Qualified Social Worker (AASW) & Qualified Community Worker (ACWA)
LinkedIn
Berry Demey Casiño
Program Assistant, Green Social Work Community Hub
Qualified Social Worker (AASW) & Qualified Community Worker (ACWA)
LinkedIn
Acknowledgements
Darrell Lao Bagang
Legal & NFP Operations
Andrew Gurthie
Business Engagement
Ashray Shetty
Web Development
Dr Chris Panagiotaros
Research & Academic Engagement
Jessie Yu Li
Samuel Young
Rahul Kumar Vakeel
Dharma Ghimire
Green Social Work Training Program Alumni
Green Social Work Community Hub 