Helping refugees
At the Social Enterprise, Next Door Artisans, we have a team of counsellors, a mental health nurse, bicultural workers, interpreters and psychologists. This enterprise is supported by GP clinics, psychology clinics, community centres and other community agencies. We have strong connections with other groups who also fundraise and we all work together to raise awareness to help the refugees.
In Thailand we have connections within three of the refugee camps, and are focusing currently on the camps that are struggling with food rations, with their rations cut from $12 per month to only $4 a month to buy rice, that will not feed them sufficiently. We have partners, who are helping to distribute the money we raise directly to purchase rice, oil and fish paste for the people who need it the most.
Over the past few months, we have sent over donations to help with emergency hospital care and medication, and this money has been well recieved and saved people’s lives!
Thank you to everyone who has donated, you are making a difference!!
Making a difference for Myanmar refugees.
Dreaming
It started with a small community garden in 2020, to bring refugees together, after COVID, to connect and improve their mental health through gardening.
Building
The group started with 15 refugees from Myanmar and has grown to over 100 refugees attending regularly to engage in traditional crafts, gardening, woodwork and learning new skills.
Growing
With the products that the refugees create, they expressed a need to assist their communities back in the refugee camps in Thailand. The refugees there are extremely vulnerable and struggling with basic food needs, medical care and housing.
Raising
We have held several community markets, and raised money through the sale of traditional foods, arts and crafts, and have donated these funds to the Thailand refugee camps.
Facilitating
Travelling to the refugee camps in 2024-2025, we saw first hand, the needs of the refugees. We donated essential items to 3 refugee camps, an orphanage and a remote village, to assist refugees who had fled the conflict in Myanmar.