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Minister for Police, Paul Whelan, presents the government
grants to Karen Burns director of Dona Maria
Grants from the NSW Police, Community Services and Health departments will help set up a post-natal depression (PND)
support telephone network for women and their families.
Minister for Police, Mr Paul Whelan, recently presented grants worth $17,100 to the Dona Maria Pre- and Post-natal Support Network, set up last year in
response to the lack of support services available to sufferers of PND. The statewide network, which is supported by the Brothers of St John of God, is the first of its kind in NSW.
The government grants will
go toward setting up a state of the art telephone system connecting callers to support volunteers in their local region.
Director of Dona Maria, Ms Karen Burns, described the grants as “closing the last vital
link in the chain for our network”.
“Within a very short time the new telephone system will allow callers to connect to volunteers who come from similar environments and who understand their unique problems,”
she said.
Mr Whelan said the community owed a debt of gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers and health professionals who make up the 36 support groups and telephone services within the network.
Ms
Burns said that, coming from the departments of Police, Community Services and Health, the grants were “doubly special” because it confirmed the government could see that family problems left unaddressed are
inherited by communities and passed on.
“The grants validate our belief that early intervention strategies such as Dona Maria produce healthier communities and reduce the need for in-patient mental health,
community and corrective services,” Ms Burns said.
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