HUNTER women recovering from domestic and family violence will have access to 'life-changing" programs designed to empower them under a partnership between Zahra Foundation Australia, Jenny's Place and the Greater Charitable Foundation.
The Zahra Foundation, founded by the children of Zahra Abrahimzadeh, who was murdered by her estranged husband in Adelaide in 2010, has announced a three-year, $730,000 partnership with the Greater Charitable Foundation, rolling out its free support program at Newcastle-based Jenny's Place.
The Zahra Foundation co-founder Arman Abrahimzadeh OAM said he anticipated 240 Hunter women would be assisted over three years in the Hunter via the program, which would be monitored by Deacon University in view of expanding into other regions.
"We know what we do in South Australia works, we have a model, it's just making slight adjustments and running it in the Hunter," he said.
The free Pathways to Empowerment program equips Hunter women with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to achieve financial independence, set and act towards life goals, find pathways to education, training and employment and to break the cycle of abuse. It is designed to enable victims of abuse to reconnect to their community through a culturally responsive, trauma-informed approach.
In Newcastle on Monday, Arman Abrahimzadeh OAM, said Zahra Foundation was excited to expand its footprint into NSW, and specifically the Hunter Region, thanks to the Greater Charitable Foundation input.
"There is no recovery from family and domestic violence without financial independence and economic empowerment. No woman should have to choose between the safety of themselves and their children or poverty and homelessness," he said.
"We have seen so many women find new confidence, pathways to education and employment and restore connections to friends and community through the Pathways to Empowerment program in Adelaide and we are excited to give women in the Hunter the same opportunity."
In 2021-22, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research recorded an increase of 9.3% in the number of reported domestic violence-related assaults across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Data for the same period shows that DFV is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children across the Hunter.
Mr Abrahimzadeh said that the program at Jenny's Place would have a particular focus on financial and economic empowerment, to break the cycle of domestic violence and not just recover but thrive after fleeing DFV.
Jenny's Place operations manager Stacey Gately said the program was open to all Hunter women, not just those assisted by her organisation: "This is for any member of the community - other services can refer to us."
Ms Gately said the program was a platform that for women who had been in a crisis space to move forward on their healing journey.
"Information is power and they will go on to share that with other people they come across and it might make them more ready to do things like getting job, doing further study, and feeling they can do that, they are a victim and not a survivor. It's about them taking back their power," she said.
Ms Gately said the Greater Charitable Foundation's involvement also demonstrated that domestic violence is "not something that just happens behind closed doors, it's a community responsibility to support and empower people to move forward."
Greater Charitable Foundation Anne Long said she had travelled to Adelaide to witness the work of Zahra Foundation, created in 2015, and seen the impact of its work.
"Arman and his siblings were left without a mother when she was killed ... there was something quite powerful in his story and his reason for setting up the foundation and wanting to work in the area of building financial independence for women so they could feel that they could leave and have something else to go to," she said.
Ms Long said the beauty of the program being run at Jenny's Place was that staff encountered women who would truly benefit.
Ms Long said that the program was critical in giving domestic violence survivors the ability to think "beyond the next 24 hours and to what their future will look like".
"You are not just helping the woman but you are helping her and her children and hopefully altering the trajectory for an individual and a family and we want to fund initiatives that enhance financial wellbeing for individuals, families and communities," she said.
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