Big moves for support group

By Melissa Grant
PAKENHAM’S Big House is getting bigger.
The small Christian-based not for profit movement opened a second Pakenham shop in Centre Arcade on Tuesday morning.
The new store will offer top-of-the-range goods and provide more opportunities for Pakenham’s unemployed people.
Big House director Andre Van Eymeren said the group had been running a Work for the Dole program through Your Employment Solutions over the past 12 months providing retail experience for 50 people.
“It’s really rewarding in terms of people learning more skills, gaining more experience and confidence before they go out into the workforce.”
“This (Centre Arcade shop) gives our Work for the Dole people an extra opportunity.”
Mr Van Eymeren also hoped that the shop would be able to further support the group’s work in the community and assist with the opening of a counselling centre.
“The big aim is to move towards counselling centre, so people can get affordable counselling,” he said.
For three-and-a-half years Big House has worked with some of the most isolated and needy people in the community, including struggling single parent families and young people having a tough time in life. In March last year Big House opened its Treloar Lane shop and hasn’t looked back since.
Various works have gone on at the shop which now houses a soup kitchen and a meeting place with a lounge and internet cafe.
But Mr Van Eymeren says some people have been hesitant to make use of the shop’s facilities.
“Anecdotally, people in need are told about the lunchtimes but some are yet to come down and be part of that,” he said.
“Part of it is people are nervous about what they’ll find and how they’ll be received.”
“But if they come down they’ll find they’ll be received with open arms.”