The Heart Award

For an organisation that has at its heart the needs of women in their local community. Examples include social enterprises, not for profit and community organisations.

Proudly sponsored by: Resolution SA

THE HEART AWARD

“WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN CREATE A BETTER REALITY FOR ALL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES.”

Living from the heart

Dinah Thomasset-Hearn was the winner of The Heart Award in 2021. She is the founder of Villagehood Australia and a tireless advocate for policy change with regards to maternal mental wellbeing. Much more than a mums group, Villagehood Australia is a real village of support for mums in Adelaide. A safe place for mums to relax, connect and feel empowered as a woman on their journey through motherhood. Villagehood Australia is a Registered Charity and Incorporated Association that brings Adelaide mums together though activities, parenting programs and support with the aim to improve their health and wellbeing.

With your help, we can amplify our voice so we are heard. With your help, we can join conversations that will impact the life of so many mums. With your help, we can create a better reality for all South Australian families and communities. Because...we – women who mum - matter.

There is no doubting Dinah ThomassetHearn's absolute dedication to her charity and her cause, and after her emotion-filled acceptance speech, we were so keen to talk more with her. // Your reaction to winning truly embodied what this award is all about – so heartfelt and authentic. Can you tell us about the highlights of your year since winning this award?

Not only was it an amazing and very surprising moment for me to win, it reinforced what I’ve been doing and really boosted my confidence as a Founder of a charity. Because, when you create a charity, it’s all about the impact. You want to have a positive impact, you want to influence change, and enhance the lives of your community. Recognition is important because it keeps you going. There are moments that are hard when you run a charity. You run on volunteers, and it’s all from the heart. Since the Award, I've had more confidence and been able to assert myself. It’s given me even more clarity, and I feel like a different person a year on. I’m much stronger, very committed and I’m now really focusing on building strong, strategic partnerships – with government, organisations, advocacy groups and community groups. I had the amazing opportunity to meet with the now Prime Minister and be able to advocate for mothers in Sydney. I met so many MPs and politicians and I will continue that journey to advocate for mums. We’ve also just set up a Maternal Mental Wellbeing Committee, which allows us to research, review and select the best programs that will enhance the mental wellbeing of mothers. // How have you stayed true to your vision for Villagehood Australia?

For me, it’s about my personal purpose in life. I was lucky enough that after I had a massive breakdown, I had a massive breakthrough when I went back to my home country of Morocco and was with my mum after suffering post natal depression. I’m really clear about what I want to achieve. I want to achieve impact. I want us to change the way we experience and see motherhood. I want to change policies. I want to change society's and government's mindset when it comes to supporting mothers. I also really want mothers to have a voice in parliament. To be seen, heard, represented and supported. That’s my why and that won’t change. This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. // Looking ahead, what changes do you want to see to better support women on their motherhood journey?

I’m working to shift the mindset from being a society that is only focused on the children, to being a society that is focused on the mothers and the children. We need to take a holistic approach, to focus on and support the mothers. To make sure that their mental wellbeing is there, and then give them the tools to then support their children. I also want to empower local mums to take on the knowledge and structure that we have at Villagehood, or come up with new initiatives to support mums in their area. We have mums who have experienced Villagehood and have the confidence that it is the right charity for them, and they’re willing to donate their time to support their local mums. I find that amazing and I love that, because this is our mission – to empower the community to better support mothers. And it’s really happening. When we went on the 7.30 report on the ABC and we had so many people reaching out from all states, asking when will we start Villagehood Australia in their state. Which is the future hopefully, to be able to do that. Because we want to be supporting mothers right across Australia.

To read Dinah's acceptance speech in full, follow this QR code.

Discover more at at villagehoodaustralia.com

Heleen Roex, Doctors for Nutrition, was the People's Choice Winner of The Heart Award in 2021.

THE HEART AWARD

2022 Finalists

AMY PAUL, HEWETT CENTRE

The Hewett Centre offers our local community a space to develop new skills and share experiences with each other. Two years ago, we opened the Kingfisher Inclusive Café within the Centre to provide learning opportunities for our community who have a disability or barriers to traditional employment. The Café provides a warm and welcoming pace for our community to come sit, chat and meet others who may be facing social isolation or are looking for a space to connect with others. The Café and Hewett Centre together host a range of events, including art shows, film events and Collaborative Occupational Therapy group sessions, which are open to the community to attend and support fostering deeper social inclusion, cultural understanding, and building new local friendship networks.

To connect with The Hewett Centre and discover more about what is happening, follow this QR code. What key moments led you to starting your business?

Harbouring a deep desire to give back to my local community, having spent the majority of my adult life in workplaces fixated on income.

The Hewett Centre provided an opportunity to continue in the events and wedding industry whilst developing the inclusive Café. Developing the Café has been a long-standing passion of mine having experienced firsthand the benefits a community-based social enterprise can have on others.

What originally began with a small team of volunteers, has now grown to have assisted or supported over 20 young people to develop their skills and move onto paid employment or return to study.

What has been your biggest triumph in your business?

Without a doubt, our biggest achievement is our volunteers. Lead volunteer, Elijah Hobby, was awarded the South Australian Young Citizen of The Year for 2022. Elijah has volunteered at the Centre and played a lead role in opening the Café. Elijah is vision impaired and has Autism. Jacob has begun to drive. Kerry, Samantha, Kate, Tom, Max, Bailey, Cheyenne and Sally have secured paid employment, whilst Maddie, Ryan and Rachael have started their own micro enterprises.

What has being involved in the 2022 SA Woman Awards brought to your life?

Having had to push the proverbial uphill to establish the Hewett Centre and Kingfisher Café as an inclusive, social enterprise style Café, the SA Woman Awards have opened my eyes to the other fabulous women in SA all striving together and supporting each other.

What key moments led you to starting your business? I have been wheelchair bound from Multiple Sclerosis since 2003 - a devastating, painful, unpredictable disease with no known cause or cure. As a former Award-winning interior designer working nationally and internationally on major projects, I managed my own business until I could no longer due to the progression of my illness. On a daily basis I experience the struggle and even embarrassment that those with disabilities face when dressing to head out and front the world. This inspired me to combine my design expertise and passion to empower and motivate others to create a fashion parade that not only transforms those with disabilities but transforms the way others see disability - showing disability in the light of beauty and awareness, in-turn empowering, and educating others about disability. Image Shift incorporates my skill for design and passion for being an ambassador and motivator.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received? “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” ~ Bob Marley. I am reminded of this every day as face my own challenges, but also see others around me deal with their disability challenges. What I once took for granted is no longer, so it’s through sheer strength and determination that we achieve our full potential.

What do you love most about your work? I love to empower others and to create a platform where those who are disabled are given the skill, confidence and permission to be someone bigger than they previously imagined rather than stuck being defined by their disability. Where they think they can be anything they want to be, including feeling beautiful, and to create goals beyond their current reality, beyond their current perception of themselves along with educating others about the possibility that comes through including those with disabilities. There have been many times when giving up seemed the easy option; yet I knew my commitment and courage, self-worth and inspiration to live the best lives and participate in all spheres involved in creating the parade, the audience, family friends and the community would be embodied by the parade. Image Shift is the genesis of a powerful moment in the global embracing of inclusivity. There are fashion Parades with disabled models and then there is Image Shift, shifting perception of those that are disabled. I believe in no barriers, but my Disability is seen as more.

JOANNE BLESING, IMAGE SHIFT

Image Shift is a community fashion parade spearheaded by Joanne Blesing aiming to empower the Disability Community through participation, transformation and media showcasing. It provides an immersion into the world of beauty and fashion and invites a sense of joy and pride, in turn celebrating Disability. Joanne intimately understands the challenge of dressing well that those with disabilities experience daily, and the confidence and dignity that dressing well provides. As a respected designer, living with MS for 20+ years, her understanding of the transformation provided by dressing with colour and style, enabling those with disabilities to participate with dignity and equality.

To connect with Joanne Blesing and discover more about her work, follow this QR code.

THE HEART AWARD

What key moments led you to starting your business? In 2019, in the midst of drought, another local business on our little main street closed its doors; the third in as many months. We knew that one or two more families might feel they had to leave our town, and we’d fall below critical mass required to maintain our school and our hospital. We’ve seen what happens to communities in that situation, and we were absolutely determined to hold on. At the same time, we knew other, smaller businesses were at work. Women were finding outlets for their creativity and respite from worrying about what would happen to the farm. They were making, creating, selling; trading from spare rooms and kitchen tables. We wanted to help bring those micro-businesses out into the open; to provide genuine, meaningful off-farm employment opportunities for the women behind them, and bring life back to our main street. And we wanted to reach an untapped resource: the thousands of grey nomads, van lifers and big lappers that passed through or by Kimba on the Eyre Highway every day, heading to or from the Nullarbor. And so Workshop26 was born. We purchased the building and a handful of shipping containers out of our own pockets and created a not-for-profit entity to offer manufacturing and retail space with affordable rental terms for micro-businesses. We were on our way! What do you love most about being in business?

We are absolutely, flat-out passionate about our little community and seeing it thrive. We love a challenge and hate to be told there’s something we can do. It only makes us more determined!

Four of us have lived in Kimba for most of our lives, with various stints travelling and living elsewhere. We are farmers, volunteers, mothers – three of us are even grandmothers! Our fifth member, Maree, owns the local pub. She moved to our community eight years ago and her fresh eyes along with the innovation and deep love for this community that we all have, has proved a pretty great combination.

What change do you want to see for women in your region? We are strong believers in the old adage, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ We want to keep showing people what's possible in the regions. We want our local girls to see creative pathways, and we want to help rural women see the opportunities available to them and inspire them to take that leap of faith - or to hold their hands while they jump if that's what's needed. We want the rural lifestyle to be seen as the dynamic, creative life it is...a life less ordinary.

WORKSHOP26

Workshop26 is a space where makers, creators and businesses can thrive - a collection of chic shipping containers inside the coolest tractor shed you've ever seen! We provide opportunities for women to tap into both their creative side and their business side; a space for them to do something for themselves. We want to help regional women realise what they are capable of. We bring micro businesses out of spare rooms, lounge rooms, and off of kitchen tables and into the light. We connect them with audiences and make them visible, for they are key to the vibrancy of our community.

To connect with Workshop26 and discover more about what's happening, follow this QR code.

To connect with Linda Howell and discover more about her work, follow this QR code.

LINDA HOWELL, THE BEAT MOVEMENT

The BEAT Movement is South Australia's very own support and awareness project for young women facing a breast cancer diagnosis. I like to think that The BEAT Movement will shift how healthcare professionals respond to young women presenting with potential cancer symptoms and will engage the SA community in such a way that every young woman knows her normal and can advocate for herself if something doesn't seem right. Early diagnosis is key and allows for the best survival and treatment outcomes. The BEAT Movement aims to reach every healthcare professional that deals with young women and have them hear our stories so that the next time they have a young woman present with potential cancer symptoms, they have a standard operating procedure that is followed rather than dismissing the young woman due to her age or circumstances, such as pregnancy.

What key moments led you to starting your movement? When my second son Eli was just 8 weeks old, I heard the words no-one wants to hear "You have Cancer". I was only 36 years old and had no family history I knew of. I had noticed a lump in my breast around 30 weeks pregnant, and was told it was a blocked milk duct for 5 months. I don't blame my midwives and doctors because they had possibly never seen a pregnant women with cancer before. It could have cost me my life if it wasn't for my wonderful GP who knew straight away. This oversight stuck with me and the more I looked at online breast cancer forums, the more I realised that this exact scenario had happened to so many women. I questioned how, in 2022, can this still be happening and set my mind that I was going to ensure that it never happened to another young woman in South Australia again. The BEAT Movement has evolved into so much more than just a cancer in pregnancy education program. It has opened a world of connection for all young women with breast cancer to meet each other and be with other young women who truly understand them. We have been invited to speak at midwifery education forums and I hope to continue to get out in the community, to raise awareness and be a safe space for diagnosed women to feel connected and heard.

What do you love most about what you're doing? I love connecting with other young women just like me. I love hearing their stories. I love hearing their ideas and seeing how they feel best supported. I love knowing that we are all here for each other when no-one else understands. I love seeing how the community wants to help others. I love seeing my friends getting involved to help other young women just like me. I love that we can all band together and know that once healthcare practitioners hear our stories, they will be better clinicians for it. I love that we can help spread the word that no-one is ever too young for breast cancer. I love that what we are doing could very well save someone's life.

What is the biggest thing you have learnt? Every day we are presented with a tonne of opportunities to either make change or better ourselves. What holds most of us back is a fear or change or a lack of confidence in ourselves. I never had the confidence in myself to step out and start my own business. That was until I heard the words "You have Cancer".