Epping Community Services Hub
The City of Whittlesea is a rapidly growing municipality on the urban fringe of Melbourne, with a current population of 230,238 expected to increase to around 388,417 over the next 20 years. This growth includes a significant number of young families, with a large population of children aged less than 12 years. Many refugees and newly arrived migrants are establishing their families in Whittlesea, with high rates of unemployment and lower levels of qualifications resulting in communities excluded from participating in the economic and social mainstream.
Like many growth areas, organisations providing services within and to the City of Whittlesea struggle to meet the volume and complexity of needs in the community, and key community infrastructures such as education, health and public transport are unable to keep pace with the rapid growth. Whilst there is a healthy and collaborative local community service sector in Whittlesea, providers are stretched and often operating out of inadequate accommodation.
Epping Community Services Hub brings together a range of not-for-profit organisations to provide community services from a single facility using a collaborative approach within the City of Whittlesea; and to find new and improved ways to work together in order to achieve best possible outcomes for the community and the sector as a whole.