By Derek Schlennstedt
It was a journey of years, but all good things take time and after much deliberating, talking and supporting, the Belgrave hub opened its doors on 21 April.
Providing a variety of important services for the community the Belgrave hub has quickly become the heart of the town.
Built to respond to the high demand for allied health, family and children services and dental services in the area, the hub provides purpose-built accommodation for visiting specialist services, including mental health, public dental and family violence services.
The centre also caters to people who need help the most.
Twenty years after moving into their ramshackle space next to the Cameo, Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service (DRERS) relocated to the lower section of the Belgrave Community Hub at the opening and have since been able to flourish.
President Frank Watson reflected on the 20 years of community work and said the group finally the space to grow.
“I was thinking on the way up here that it all started from a second-hand freezer in the workshop under my house, to now a million dollar building…that’s not a bad step,” he said.
“We’re all so pleased to be in this place…it’s a whole different atmosphere, to look at a place like this with the rooms we have, the facilities we have, what more could we ask for? And we have the support of the council to thank for that.”
With a kitchen, spacious lunch area, numerous offices, showers and two referral offices, the space is a vast improvement on their previous location and they look forward to growing into the future.
