CHILDREN exposed to family violence have a chance to begin healing thanks to a new grant to Women’s Health West (WHW).
The $5200 Commonwealth Bank community grant will help the Footscray-based service run ‘Little Picassos’ art therapy workshops for children aged up to 12 who have witnessed family violence or experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse.
WHW’s two part-time children’s counsellors are the only specialist counsellors in Melbourne’s west providing free help for children suffering trauma following family violence.
Counsellor Sally said children were present at about 2500 family violence incidents in Melbourne’s west in the year to June, but the service was funded to see only 95 children.
She said traumatised children had difficulty learning and being able to play or develop emotionally, but the program could slowly turn their lives around.
