Wuchopperen Health Service's Jalbu Hub has celebrated a year of supporting women and girls across the Cairns / Gimuy community.
Since opening in Edmonton on September 15 last year, Jalbu Hub has supported 375 individual female clients, including 73 girls under 18, and recorded more than 2,300 service visits by female clients in its first year.
The milestone was celebrated with official anniversary proceedings and cake cutting, followed by a community Open Day from 11 am to 2 pm, introducing new visitors to the Hub, its team and the range of health, wellbeing and support services available.
Wuchopperen Health Service chief executive officer Joy Savage said the first-year milestone reflected the service's need and the importance of creating an environment where women felt comfortable accessing care.
"When Jalbu Hub opened its doors a year ago, our aim was to create a place where women and girls felt safe, respected and supported to put their own health and wellbeing back in focus," Ms Savage said.
"We also want more women across our community to know that Jalbu is here for them. While Jalbu is a Wuchopperen service, our doors are open to women and girls from all backgrounds, including women from Cairns' culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
"Jalbu is also about reaching women earlier. Rather than waiting until someone reaches crisis point, we want to walk alongside women through their health journey - helping them access care, ask questions, build confidence and connect with the right support when they are ready,"
The first service of its kind for Wuchopperen, Jalbu Hub was established to remove barriers to health care and support for women and girls, providing a safe, welcoming and practical place where they can seek information and access services.
Feedback from Jalbu Hub's first year underscores how much clients value its welcoming environment: one young Indigenous woman said she felt "very comfortable" at the Hub, while another described it as "a very calm environment with great workers".
Jalbu Hub also aims to build greater awareness among Gimuy / Cairns' culturally and linguistically diverse communities, where some women may face additional barriers to accessing health care, information and support.
Located alongside Wuchopperen's existing Edmonton Clinic at 7 Stokes Street, Jalbu Hub was established to meet identified need in Cairns South, an area experiencing rapid growth.
The Open Day included clinic tours, health information and appointment bookings, nutrition and wellbeing activities, pregnancy and early parenting information, women's health and screening information, and a women's self-defence demonstration.
The first 100 women attending also received a women's health bag containing practical health and wellbeing information and resources.
