External Event - Storytelling to Create Change
Rainbow Health Australia and Common Ground
About Rainbow Health Australia
Rainbow Health Australia is a program that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) health and wellbeing through research and knowledge translation, training, resources, policy advice and service accreditation through the Rainbow Tick.
About Common Ground
Common Ground is a First Nations not-for-profit and collective of First Nations people changing systems through storytelling.
Rainbow Health Australia (RHA) and experienced First Nations Story Tellers Common Ground are teaming up to deliver a series of workshops that empower Rainbow Mob with storytelling skills. Their goal is to help mental health services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO)’s better serve the needs of Rainbow Mob.
Why do they want me to share my story?
They want to provide a space for Rainbow Mob to engage with the cultural practice of storytelling supported by Common Ground.
With your permission, stories will become learning resources for ACCO’s and Mental Health Services to make accessing their services a safer and better experience.
What can I expect?
Build relationships with other Rainbow Mob who share an interest in making health and support services safer for Rainbow Mob
Learn skills to share your stories and lived experience safely in whatever way that you’d like to which will be used to make learning resources for the programs.
Develop a story that is impactful and will influence the way Rainbow Mob receive services.
Benefits of participating:
Get paid for your time.
Build advocacy skills to work in storytelling and lived experience industries.
Free food!
Connect with other Rainbow Mob
How can I share my story?
Story telling can happen in many different ways and each is as valuable as the next! In these workshops, they need your stories to speak to your experience in accessing mental health services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and how they did or didn't meet your needs as Rainbow Mob.
Some ways you could share your stories are:
Written format: story, poem, letters, etc.
Visual: Videos, artwork/photography (accompanied by a description story), graphic design, etc.
Audio: Songs, audio recordings, interviews, etc.
It could be a combination of any of the above or something beyond!
Facilitators
Travis Kym Cloudy-Hensgen (He/Him) - Common Ground
Travis is a proud Torres Strait Islander man from Ugar, Iama, and Erub Islands, and part of the LGBTIQA+ community. He grew up in Mildura, maintaining a strong connection to his community and Island heritage. After moving to Naarm, he joined the ATO through the Indigenous Employment Program, promoting cultural awareness and organizing the first NAIDOC event at the Dandenong office. Travis has held various roles, including Executive Assistant and Aboriginal Recruitment Business Partner, and has volunteered with Seed Mob. He is passionate about amplifying First Nations voices and advocating for a culturally strong future.
Dan Powell (He/They) - Rainbow Health Australia
Dan is a proud Yorta Yorta man from Echuca and the First Nations How2 Program Coordinator at Rainbow Health and Trainer at Rainbow Health. He has a rich background in diversity and inclusion initiatives predominantly working with LGBTIQ+ and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Dan’s work is driven by a passion for social justice and faith that meaningful change can be achieved with the right conditions. This passion has allowed Dan to support organisations to enhance their capability to better serve Rainbow Mob which is something he is extremely proud to be a part of.
Workshop Dates:
6-8pm Thursday, 14th November 2024
11am-2pm Monday, 18th November 2024
6-8pm Thursday, 28th November 2024
6-8pm Thursday, 5th December 2024
Workshop Location:
Thorne Harbour Health - 200 Hoddle St, Abbotsford, Victoria
For more information and to register your interest, click here.
These workshops are supported by the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Switchboard Victoria.
Wellbeing Statement
These workshops aim to equip you with the knowledge and skills to share your lived experience around service access in a way that is culturally safe. Your stories are powerful and will impact the way that these services provide support to Rainbow Mob but they can also be challenging to talk about and share. In the workshops they will be yarning about stories in groups to help everyone be the best story tellers possible so they want you to really think about how you are feeling about your mental health to make sure that you can participate without becoming overwhelmed or overly distressed.
If now isn't the right time for you to come along to a workshop, but still have a story you'd like to share, please contact dan.powell@latrobe.edu.au to have a yarn about the ways in which they can hear your story safely.
Sometimes we may feel that we are ready to share our stories and then be surprised by the emotions it brings up. To keep everyone safe at the workshops there will be social and emotional wellbeing support available during the workshops.