Vanessa, one of our founding Board members has stepped back from the Rainbow Families Board after nearly seven years of volunteering to support our community. Vanessa was at the first meetings of Rainbow Families where a group of gay and lesbian parents came together with a dream of a united community. Our dream for Rainbow Families has become a reality in no small part thanks to the hard work and determination of Vanessa.
Vanessa has led so many of the incredible projects that are now part of the annual calendar for Rainbow Families. It started out with getting our antenatal class supported by Sydney Local Health District. It was so important to Vanessa who believed that if we could show the need for the class within our community, we could go to SLHD and ask them to run it for us. This thinking is one of the cornerstones of what we now do at Rainbow Families – encouraging mainstream services to be more inclusive of our community and partner with them for the best outcome for our community.
Vanessa had the idea for our Resilience Camps, and has been instrumental in running the resilience workshops at the camps over the past few years. It’s Vanessa’s passion for bringing the community together and creating safe inclusive spaces for people to be with their community that has helped create the community that is Rainbow Families.
Recognising and supporting the incredibly capable young people we are raising has been one of Vanessa’s passion projects over the past four years. Our Youth Advisory Council is a place for young people in the Rainbow Families community to come together in a space supported by Vanessa. The YAC has met monthly and Vanessa has dedicated her time to these young people even after her boys stopped being involved. Even as she leaves the organisation it’s only once she has set the YAC up to be supported by youth workers at Twenty 10.
The vision of Vanessa and the other founding Board members of Rainbow Families has now been realised thanks in no small part to the love, time, and dedication of Vanessa. Rainbow Families would not be where it is today if it weren’t for all of the hard work of Vanessa. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts Vanessa and wish you all the best for you and your beautiful family in the future.