Community is at the heart of the Geelong region’s only not-for-profit pharmacy group, Community Care Chemist. Committed to giving back to the community, Community Care Chemist shares the Give Where You Live Foundation’s belief that every member of our community deserves the opportunity to not only survive, but to thrive.
In a community centred partnership, Community Care Chemist has signed on all five locally run Geelong pharmacies as merchants for the Give Where You Live Foundation’s Community Choice voucher program.
The Give Where You Live Foundation’s voucher program gives people in our community experiencing crisis, access to basic necessities such as food, material aid, and prescriptions. The Give Where You Live Foundation has been delivering an emergency relief program for over 30 years.
The Foundation’s Community Choice program provides essentials, such as food from the Geelong Food Relief Centre as well as a range of local cafes, prescription medications from local partner pharmacies including Community Care Chemist, and household items to help people set up a new home from the Junk Group.
The Give Where You Live Foundation has recently expanded the number of Community Choice merchants in the program, to offer the community greater choice in where they can access these essentials across the Geelong region.
The Foundation currently distributes around $130,000 of vouchers annually through the program, supporting more than 7500 people each year. Data shows that 55% of people accessing Community Choice vouchers have sought assistance due to being on government benefits which are not keeping up with the increased cost of living, including food and rent increases.
Currently the Foundation works in partnership with 25 local community agencies across the region including The Outpost, Meli, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative ad The Power in You Project, who then distribute vouchers to community members.
Pictured: Sally Edgerton from the Give Where You Live Foundation with Community Care Chemist’s Grovedale pharmacy manager May Gladki.
