Salvos service brings hope to remote region

The Normanton Recovery and Community Wellbeing Service was officially opened on Wednesday 5 February.

The service, located 2000km north west of Brisbane in the Lower Gulf of Carpentaria region, offers both a residential program for up to 20 clients with substance abuse issues, and also provides non-residential wellbeing programs for the community and region. The focus on holistic health includes programs in areas such as mental health, suicide prevention, life skills and health and nutrition.

The service caters largely to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities from Normanton, Mt Isa and across the Lower Gulf region.

Fred Pascoe, Mayor of Carpentaria Shire Council; Shaun Solomon, Gidgee Healing Chairman; and Matthew Cooke, Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, also spoke at the opening.

“These people are our partners in this region and we work together to provide a range of Indigenous health services,” said Major David Pullen, Territorial Mission and Resource Director – Recovery. 

“This service, the first of its kind, is an amazing service to amazing people and is bringing hope, light and new opportunities to people’s lives,” said Major Pullen.

“It also allows us to link and cross-refer people to our services from Townsville to Normanton to Mt Isa, opening up a multitude of open doorways for them, which is a huge benefit to the community and wider health sector.

“We are supporting and giving back to local communities, with funding coming from the Federal Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.”

By Simone Worthing