MCCI Multicultural Communities

05/06/2026

Please use the QR code or go to https://redcap.helix.monash.edu/surveys/?s=KNFLPXERLKYA7HN4

04/06/2026

🌊 Worth a watch: Nhandi - from the Tides Film Project
Our team recently had the privilege of attending the launch of the TIDES Project by Barnardos Australia - and it was truly something special.
The first completed film, Nhandi, is now available to watch. This powerful 15-minute story highlights the voice and experience of a young person, creating space for reflection, connection and understanding.

As we come to the end of Reconciliation Week, this is a meaningful way to listen, learn and honour the importance of sharing stories.

📽️ Watch and share:
www.barnardos.org.au/the-tides-project/
We encourage our community to take a moment to watch and support this important work.

The Tides Project is a youth filmmaking initiative for Aboriginal young people in Warrawong to build creative skills and leadership through storytelling.

02/06/2026

For more than 20 years, Lyn has been supporting refugee and migrant families in our community through her generosity and care.

A long-time Wollongong local, Lyn recently donated two beautiful crocheted blankets—handmade with love—to MCCI's Winter Blanket Appeal.

Thanks to supporters like Lyn, we've raised enough to purchase 50 blankets so far. Our goal is 100 blankets, and with the appeal closing this week, we're hoping to reach the finish line.

Here's how you can help:
• Donate a new double blanket at 5 Old Springhill Road, Coniston
• Donate via the link below to help us purchase additional blankets

Thank you to Lyn and everyone who has supported this year's appeal.

Donate: https://givenow.com.au/appeal

With MCCI Settlement Services

01/06/2026

“I feel like my nonna lives on in every dish I make and share.”

This year marks the 14th year of MCCI’s Multicultural Intergenerational Cook-Off, bringing young people and seniors together to share stories, culture, and a love of cooking.

Students and mentors got together at Illawarra Sports High School, to prepare their recipes for this year's Cook-Off. There will be four teams this year: Italian, Nigerian, Indian and Indigenous.

Noemi, one of this year’s mentors, is taking part for the first time. Born and raised in a small town near Catania in Sicily, food is deeply tied to love, family, and memory:

“For Italian culture, cooking and sharing good food are ways to show love and care to others… I feel like my nonna lives on in every dish I make and share.”

For Noemi, the Cook-Off is about more than recipes. It’s about passing on tradition and inspiring students to take what they learn home to their families.

“I look forward to working with the students… and hoping they’ll go home and cook the dishes we master together.”

29/05/2026

Celebrating our amazing volunteers this National Volunteer Week! 💛
A huge thank you to the incredible people who give their time, care, and energy to support our community - MCCI wouldn’t be what it is without you.
Interested in making a difference too? Get in touch with MCCI to find out how you can give back to your community through volunteering.

28/05/2026

The 2026 Cono Choir has joined choirs across Australia in singing Beds Are Burning as part of National Reconciliation Week 2026. This year’s NRW theme, All In, calls on all everybody in Australia to know our history and work together for justice and reconciliation every day.

Follow Reconciliation Australia to learn more.

“Beds Are Burning, written and performed by Midnight Oil, is a powerful anthem that hit a chord nationally and internationally and became a defining soundtrack of the land rights movement.
The song was inspired by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta handback to the Anangu people in 1985 and was written over the course of the 1986 Blackfella/Whitefella tour the Oils embarked on with Warumpi Band through Western Desert and Arnhem Land Aboriginal communities.

Released in 1987 on the Diesel and Dust album, the song became an international hit, reaching #1 in New Zealand, South Africa and Canda, #17 in the USA, and #6 in the UK and at home in Australia.”

For National Reconciliation Week 2026, Reconciliation Australia once again called on choirs across the country to raise their Voices for Reconciliation.Beds ...

28/05/2026

We are fortunate to work with 160 incredible volunteers. Here are some of the dedicated people who have been with us the longest. More photos and reels from today’s event coming soon.

With MCCI Volunteer Coordinator Emily and MCCI Settlement Services

28/05/2026

Allied Health Unearthed!

Meet Isaac, MCCI's Exercise Physiologist.

Isaac supports people with a range of health needs through tailored exercise programs, helping them build strength, manage chronic conditions, and improve confidence in movement.

Before joining MCCI, he spent several years working in rehabilitation and supporting people with neurological conditions. What attracted him to MCCI was the opportunity to work with people from a range of cultural backgrounds and the challenge of finding new ways to connect and support them.

Isaac has been working closely with a group of Burmese men who have recently settled in Australia. Many arrived with little experience of organised exercise, limited health literacy and no English.

Over time, they've built trust, developed new routines, and become regular participants.

"It's been great watching them improve and start to enjoy it," Isaac says. "For a lot of them, it's become a highlight of their week."

Outside of work, Isaac enjoys staying active himself. After growing up playing rugby league, he's recently taken up AFL with the Wollongong Lions and spends his weekends at the beach or catching up with friends and family.

27/05/2026

Today students from MCCI’s Accelerate THEM program spent time playing games and and helping in the kitchen at our Dutch Social Support Group in Cringila.

Accelerate THEM supports young people from multicultural backgrounds to explore their career and life choices, build confidence, form positive connections, and take an active role in their communities.

It is funded by NSW Department of Communities and Justice and supported through the Strong and Resilient Communities – Inclusive Communities Grant from the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

26/05/2026

Students from Figtree High School - Official and Warrawong High School recently took part in the Inside Industry: BlueScope Steelworks Tour as part of the Accelerate THEM program.

The tour at BlueScope Steel Inside Industry gave students a firsthand look at industry in action and facilitated conversations about future study and career pathways.

Accelerate THEM supports young people from multicultural backgrounds to explore their career and life choices, build confidence, form positive connections, and take an active role in their communities.

It is funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and supported through the Strong and Resilient Communities – Inclusive Communities Grant from the Australian Government Australian Government Department of Social Services.

With MCCI Settlement Services