PCiA Community Services
98
Families Supported
$533K
Funds Raised to house families
370
Days of support since November, 2023
Learn More about PCiA Community Services
Housing
The war in Gaza has taken its toll on our Christian community in Gaza. Hundreds are still sheltering in the churches. Hundreds have been granted special visas to come to Australia. Hundreds more are still waiting for their visas to be approved by the Australian government.
Having recently arrived, the families are embarking on a new chapter here in Australia, as they seek refuge from the wreckage of their lives back in Gaza. Their homes, businesses and neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble.
Stripped of everything, they’re looking for a fresh start for the well-being of their children and family.
We deeply appreciate the ongoing efforts of the Palestinian Christian of Australia (PCIA). Their support has been invaluable in alleviating the pain we endured during the recent conflict in Gaza. Upon our arrival in Australia, they extended a helping hand, offering assistance with basic necessities such as housing, furniture, and household essentials, including bedroom furniture. Additionally, they generously covered the rent for our house for six months. Their generosity made us feel like part of a family, providing us with a sense of security and belonging in Australia. We are eagerly looking forward to beginning our new lives here. Our heartfelt thanks go to Susan, whose compassionate soul has been a beacon of hope and support for us. We hold her in the highest regard for her selfless efforts. With sincere gratitude.
Hi PCiA,
I just want to say thank you for everything you did for our family, we can’t thank you enough for the support and help you provide for us. It’s not just a financial help, it made us feel safe, stable, helped us to start over without worrying about home. These kind of charities and good deeds what make us humans, and have faith in humanity again.
Through the blessed support of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Australia, National Council of Churches Australia, Eastern Christian Churches, the Uniting Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church and hundreds of individuals donating to PCiA, we have managed to collect funds to house over 350 people seeking refuge in Australia.
Since the beginning of January 2024, Palestinian Christians in Australia (PCiA) has been helping families that are arriving from Gaza to settle in Australia. To date (as of End October 2024), we have secured accommodation and furnished homes for 72 families (most of them with children). We have approved 3 more families to look for apartments.
We are expecting 30 more Christian families to arrive in the coming weeks/months. We will need more funding to house them and look after them.
To apply for accommodation services, please email accomm@palestinianchristians.org.au
We would like to thank you Mrs. Suzan Wahhab and all members of the PCiA for helping us from the first day we arrived in Sydney in November 2023. We are pleased to extend our sincere thanks for all your varied services and assistance, whether financial and advisory, represented by covering the rent for 6 months, and providing the necessary furniture, electrical appliances and the entire kitchen. Also appreciate in helping to get my son a scholarship at a Catholic school. You never stopped asking us about our needs. Therefore, we extend our sincere thanks to you for all assistance and support. God bless you.
Education
Since October 2023, the children have not been attending school. Once they arrive in Australia, we have been able to help the parents enroll the children in public schools. We also helped secure scholarships for the first year for most of the children at the local Catholic schools. The children are now settling into a routine, and some started receiving merit certificates! We wish them all the best.
Dear PCIA team
We are George’s family. We are 5 members, my wife and I and 3 children. We arrived in Sydney during this war on Gaza. We left everything behind us and arrived at this new country where we have no relatives to help us. We only found PCiA foundation that helped us by providing housing for us and paying rent. This helped us achieve stability so that we could feel safe and happy to start over again. We hope that it will help us build our foundation to continue our life here. PCiA also helped us with bringing some necessary pieces of furniture.
They helped us get school scholarship for our daughter at Catholic school. All thanks to the Foundation and all those in charge of it for supporting us and supporting the many families coming from Gaza to Sydney.
Food
Since November 2023, our volunteers have been working hard collecting food, toiletries, clothes, toys and school supplies for Gaza families. We also partner with charities to coordinate provision of food supplies to families in need.
I just don’t know how to thank you for everything you are doing to us it’s really appreciated. Thank you very much again. 💖
Mental Health
Bi-lingual Palestinian mental health professional volunteers are playing an important role in providing mental health support to Gaza families arriving in Australia. They find our volunteers within our community to be understanding, caring and above all understand the culture and the language. We want to provide more one on one support, especially for young people.
Employment & Training
Our service providers offer our community cultural awareness programs, English classes, CV review and editing, and specialised training such as bookkeeping, administrative services, IT services. All programs aim to support future workers to be job ready and increase the chance of success in the workforce.
Hey Auntie Suzan,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for helping me out with the job opportunity. The interview went really well, and I’m excited to let you know I’ll be starting next Tuesday for a causal job, working every Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thanks again for everything,