The Illawarra Women’s Health Centre in Warilla is inviting women who were raised in institutional or out-of-home care to express their interest in joining a peer support group focused on connection, understanding, and healing.
The initiative, inspired by Centre volunteer Terri’s lived experience, is designed to create a safe space for women who spent part of their childhood in children’s homes, group care, or foster placements.
The group aims to provide an informal and welcoming environment where women with similar backgrounds can share stories, reduce isolation, and build peer support.
Terri, a long-time volunteer at the Centre, was raised in a group home in Rockdale from the age of four. Her story, like many others, includes family separation, institutional neglect, and emotional disconnection.
“You just didn’t exist,” she recalls. “You were invisible. You didn’t matter. That feeling doesn’t go away, even decades later.”
Having previously attended a similar support network in Bankstown, Terri recognised a need for such a group in the Illawarra region.
“There’s nothing down this way. I know I can’t be the only one. If there are others out there, I want them to know they’re not alone.”
The group is not a counselling service but rather a peer-led initiative.
It’s open to women from all backgrounds who spent part of their childhood years in institutional or foster care.
No formal referral is necessary.
The Illawarra Women’s Health Centre is currently seeking expressions of interest.
If you would like to know more or register your interest in joining the group, please contact the Centre at 4255 6800 or email info@womenshealthcentre.com.au.
