BCHS Annual Report 2025 - Report - Page 13
All heart: 15 years of Settlement
Services at BCHS
It’s safe to say BCHS wasn’t fully prepared
when the 昀椀rst refugee Karen family touched
down 15 years ago, bound for Bendigo. But
our hearts were in the right place.
BCHS’ Martine Street was at Tullamarine Airport, ready
to take the family-of-six under her wing and steady
the journey to peace and stability. She was joined by
Buddhist monk Moonie and one other social worker,
with then-manager Kaye Graves supporting.
“We had no idea what we were doing,” Kaye recalls.
“We didn’t have a house for the family, who of course
had no rental history. I went to my Rotary Club and
begged for someone to rent them a house. Which they
did, thankfully.”
Kaye says it was clear they’d need bilingual sta昀昀,
and so the Settlement Services team began to grow,
and employ Karen and Dari-speaking people of lived
refugee experience.
Since 2010, BCHS has delivered the federally-funded
program in Bendigo, supporting people of refugee
“Fifteen years of supporting the
positive settlement of new arrivals
to Bendigo is the most rewarding
work l have done in my life. It has
been a journey in BCHS, shared with
passionate sta昀昀, volunteers, community
members and community leaders.”
– Martine Street, Senior Leader
Settlement Services
background to navigate life here, including education,
employment, health and housing.
The team has had one of their busiest years helping
to reunite and settle over 100 refugees. “There were
many beautiful family reunions happening. These are
the times that make our work so incredibly rewarding,”
Martine said.
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