At Rotary EQ, we are passionate about helping to end homelessness however we realise that having never walked a mile in a homeless person's shoes, we are missing important context to better serve that community. We want to do something about that so on the 1st of May we have arranged for Joe Calleja, CEO of St Bartholemews House (St Barts.) Perth to help inform us.
St Barts helps people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness achieve positive life outcomes. Their vision is to eliminate homelessness and to assist homeless of today to rebuild their lives, and act to prevent the homelessness of tomorrow. Joe will be speaking about his journey and how it fell into assisting the homeless and how we, as Rotary of Elizabeth Quay can make practical and realistic steps to reduce the incidence of homelessness in our home community, Perth.
Who is Joe Calleja?
Joe Calleja was the Chief Executive Officer of the Richmond Fellowship of Western Australia from July 2005 – January 2016. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Social Impact of the UWA Business School and has over thirty years’ experience working with the community sector. He was previously Director for Court Support Services with the Department of Justice in Western Australia, Principal Social Worker of the Department for Community Services and Executive Manager of Kin Way Anglicare WA Family Relationship Services. He is a past President of the WA Association of Mental Health (WAAMH), past National Vice President of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and has been on the boards of WA Council of Social Service (WACOSS), Community Employers WA (CEWA), the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Advisory Board (UWA), Psycho Social Rehabilitation and Recovery Association of WA (PRRAWA) and the previous state government Social Inclusion Reference Group. He was a member of the Ministerial National Marriage and Family Council and a Board Member of Family Services Australia. He was a non-government representative on the National Mental Health Service Framework, Project Steering Committee for the development of the WA Mental Health Strategic Plan 2010 – 2020 and chaired the Centrelink Consultative Committee on Mental Health in WA. He is currently semi-retired and undertakes short term consultancy with organizations general related to mental health service delivery. He is a Graduate of the AICD course and is a life member of the Australian College of Social Work.