December 5 is International Volunteer Day, celebrating the important role volunteers play in supporting our communities. The theme for this year is 'Volunteers Build Resilient Communities". There is an array of ways to volunteer within our Catholic social services organisations. Read on for a couple of inspiring volunteer stories from our member organisations, Villa Maria Catholic Homes and CatholicCare Melbourne.

A number of our Catholic social services organisations are honouring International Day for People with Disability (IDPD) held on 3 December each year. The theme for IDPD 2018 is  ‘empowering persons with disabilities and insuring inclusiveness and equality’. MacKillop Family Services is celebrating the teamwork that ensures people with a disability get the support they need to be fully included in every aspect of social, educational, economic, political and cultural life.

On 3 December each year we celebrate International Day for People with Disability (IDPWD), a day created by the United Nations back in 1992. It is a great opportunity to share the stories of the people supported by our Catholic social services agencies and the great things they are doing in their lives. This year’s IDPWD themes are empowerment, equality and inclusion. One of our members, Villa Maria Catholic Homes proudly strives to work side-by-side with the people they support to help them achieve all these things.

In his keynote speech and book chapter titled Catholic Social Services as Agents of Hearing, Healing and Hope, Phil Glendenning, President of the Australian Refugee Council shares a moving poem penned by a young Iranian asylum seeker who spent a number of years in mandatory detention after arriving in Australia by boat and challenges everyone "to start blowing on those clay whistles and go and change history!"