The Rainbow Families community is continually growing thanks to the hard work and dedication of our volunteers. One of the great areas of growth is in our family catch ups, and it’s not just Sydney families seeing the benefit of these. One such social group is located in Port Macquarie, providing a great opportunity for our Mid North Coast families to get together.
This great catch up wouldn’t happen without our superstar volunteer, Rackas {she/her}, and we thought you’d like to take a moment to get to know the human behind the event. And believe us, there’s more to Rackas than meets the eye. For instance a few years ago she rode a bull at a rodeo in Warwick! She tells us that the bull won, but still we think she’s pretty brave!
Rackas is part of a rainbow family of her own, with a daughter named Madeleine, who she co-parents with her ex-partner. Describing her family as unique and beautiful with adventure being a key element, Rackas believes that community is vital when it comes to raising a family.
“It is important to me that our daughter grows up in a community where she doesn’t feel she is excluded or different from anyone else because of her family dynamic,” Rackas says of the benefits of becoming involved with Rainbow Families. Having relocated to New South Wales from Queensland, Rackas first happened upon Rainbow Families while searching for same sex parent groups online.
Rackas says she wanted to start her own local catch up to “build a community where everyone has a place and nobody feels excluded.” The Port Macquarie catch ups encourage LGBTQIA+ parents and children to come along and bring the rest of their families to join in. Describing the catch ups as “inclusive, welcoming and consistent”, Rackas says with different people at every catch up there is always an opportunity to make new friends in a casual and relaxed setting.
The Port catch ups started humbly, with get togethers at a local park or café, but have now branched out to rotate through different activities. A recent event took place at Spring Loaded, an indoor trampoline park, where the children had a lot of fun. Their biggest catch up yet saw a local café open it’s doors just for Rainbow Families, and an impressive 30 people turned up to spend some time together.
In the future, Rackas would love to see more growth in support for LGBTQIA+ people and their families in regional and rural New South Wales. It’s her dream to attend a regional fair day or weekend where everyone feels free to be themselves. She envisages events and workshops, but most importantly family.
On the best advice she’s ever been given, Rackas shares “find your community. It doesn’t matter if you see them once a week or once a year, knowing they are there is very important.” If you’re in the Port Macquarie area and you think Rackas could help you find your community, keep up with the local catch ups on the Facebook page.
If you’re in an area that you think could benefit from a Rainbow Families social group and feel that you’re the person to get the ball rolling, find out more about hosting on our Local Family Catch-ups page.
