Lynne has been actively involved in a variety of community activities for a number of years. She sees the importance of the local community being the focus point for many people to establish relationships and networks that help to enhance our society.

She was involved with Neighbourhood Houses when they were first being established as part of her Welfare Studies within the local rural community. Lynne had always intended to become more involved again. Her changing work situation has now enabled her to do this at ESNLC.

Lynne moved to Elwood over ten years ago and has also been involved with the establishment of a community garden, called “Poets’ Garden” that has enabled her to combine her interests in gardening and networking into the wider local community.

Juhee has a Bachelor of Commerce and is a qualified Chartered Accountant, and brings a balanced and focused view of financial matters to ESNLC. She combines her skills in financial analysis and forecasting with her long-time love of volunteering in her community to help the residents of the City of Port Phillip have access to all they need to thrive.

She began her career in external and internal audit, where she worked with businesses to minimise their financial and operational risk. In her current role in the energy sector, she helps Australia achieve its Renewable Energy Target by analysing the financial and commercial viability of renewable energy projects.

Her hobbies include health and fitness, cricket and reading.

Simon has worked as Elwood Toy Library’s coordinator since 2009. The toy library has operated out of ESNLC since the 80s.

Penny has been involved with the ESNLC for over 30 years teaching yoga. She didn’t realize it was this long until a student reminded her that that’s how long she’s been coming to class. She has been on the committee for about 28 years.

What Penny loves about the house is the diversity of students/people that use the centre; people that perhaps may not feel so comfortable and welcome in many other places. This makes it a true centre for the whole community.

Penny works at the Queen Victoria Market in retail and teaches Yoga in other places locally too.

Greg is a local journalist and owner of Edunity, a social issues publishing company. For over a decade he edited the Council’s Divercity magazine. He now produces TWiSK, a popular weekly newsletter about the arts, music and community in St Kilda and surrounds. He has been a regular participant at the ESNLC since 2004.

Helen is a long time resident in Port Phillip and has volunteered and worked at the Elwood Neighbourhood House so she is very familiar with the Centre operations. Helen is extremely thorough and accurate so her administration skills will certainly benefit the Centre.

Ruth has a Bachelor of Education, has been a Student Welfare officer but now dedicates her life as a Feldenkrais Practioner for movements solutions. Ruth also is an expert in Reiki, Reflexology and Pranic Healing.

Ruth has volunteered in different organisations and brings a wealth of knowledge in community development. She has a deep interest in supporting people and organisations who love sharing good will in our local area and community.

Simone joined the ESNLC team in 2013 and brings with her many years of community and adult education experience. Simone studied Health Science and Arts at Deakin and facilitated community development projects in Bass Coast and Melbourne. After being accepted in the Toyota Community Foundation Mentoring Program 2016 Simone was appointed manager of ESNLC in early 2017.

Simone is originally from the Bass Coast and has a passion for languages and travel. She thrives on meeting new people and will always greet you with a smile.

Sheryl has been a bookkeeper for over 11 years working both in employment and as a contractor. She works one day a week at ESNLC and 3 days for a landscape design studio. Sheryl lives with her husband, 2 kidadults, a cat and a dog. Being active, walking, travelling, crafting and seeing live music make her very happy. And she’s just a little more excited by spreadsheets and balance sheets than she possibly should be!

Melanie is a qualified Social Worker with a very varied history. She began as a family therapist in Hobart then moved to England where she worked with the voluntary sector. She then moved into training, writing the education material for the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors as well as delivering the diploma of Welfare to international students. She volunteered with ESNLC to do a research project on how the City of Port Phillip recruit and celebrate volunteers. Melanie loved being at the ESNLC so much she applied for the Education Coordinator position. She loves meeting new people and seeing the regulars at the neighbourhood centre making work fun and interesting every day.

Sue has over 10 years’ experience in volunteer management within community services organisations in the not-for-profit sector. Sue actively participates in a number of networks and associations across the volunteering sector. An active volunteer herself with various organisations, she is passionate about the unique energy and immense value that volunteers bring to the organisations and communities they support. “I love working with and supporting volunteers – I am continually amazed by their generosity and spirit.”

Maryanne has worked with the Roomers group across the last three years as guest artist and occasional facilitator, and is now stepping into the role of ongoing facilitator. Maryanne is a writer, director and producer who loves working across diverse contexts and with diverse individuals and communities. She also enjoys being a creative matchmaker–bringing together the talents, experiences and journeys of all involved in a project or process in exciting and unexpected ways. Maryanne has worked across the arts, community and public sectors, including time as a Radio National producer, artist in residence at Malthouse Theatre, and a team member of reviews into the mental health of several large-scale public organisations. Maryanne is a local resident of St Kilda and the mother of teenage twins.

Vivien is an experienced teacher who has taught literacy to adults with an intellectual disability and English as an Additional Language. With more than ten years’ experience in this area, Vivien has embraced the opportunity to be abreast of the industry by taking a Cert. IV in TAE. Vivien has been teaching since 2006 at our centre and is passionate about training adults from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Her aim is to create a friendly learning environment in which her students can develop not only language abilities but also confidence to communicate in a conversational or written manner. Vivien is currently teaching pre accredited and accredited training.

Helena has been working with us as an on the job trainer/mentor with our ARCS program since 2015.
She has had many years’ experience working in retail, retail management, administration and reception roles.
Her qualifications include Certificate III in Business Administration, Certificate III in Community Services and Certificate IV in Frontline Management.
With her work experiences and qualifications, she can guide our students to find their strengths and confidence to reach their goals.

Penny has been teaching Gita Style Hatha Yoga at ESNLC for over 30 years at ESNLC. Penny graduated as a Gita Yoga teacher in 1989, she originally did the course because she just loved the yoga practice taught at Gita Yoga and simply wanted to do more yoga. Throughout her career as a yoga teacher the Progressive Yoga Relaxation, the Hatha style of Gita Yoga combined with the Esoteric and philosophy classes became a constant in her life. Participants love her gentle form of teaching and she has many loyal followers.

Monica has been doing yoga off and on since she was little and she has had some great teachers along the way and one at CAE said, “My job is to make you love yoga so much you want to do it in your own home”. Monica’s formal training was at Gita which used to be in Abbotsford and was one of the first yoga schools in Melbourne. Along the way, she’s done yoga retreats and taken classes and workshops from others to continue to learn and grow. Her aim is to have an inclusive class so that if you’re just starting out you can come along and if you’ve been practising a long time you can be challenged as well. A quote which sums up Monica’s thinking right now is “Our mistake is that we think we have so much time.” Come along and find some further balance, strength and peace on Tuesdays with Monica.

Damian has been an Art as Therapy tutor at ESNLC for over 12 years. He has a dedicated class of all abilities students who attend every Friday to create art using different mediums. Damian himself has a background in sculpture of native birds using wood and also specialises in water colour.

Victoriya is an experienced ICT Tutor for adults with EAL. She has an extensive teaching experience in delivering Information Technology and related courses to university students in Europe. She is a Ph.D. in Information Technology. She has an excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, good communication and team-working skills. She always shows her enthusiasm at helping students to do their digital journey. Victoria is an acknowledged Computer teacher for a Russian-speaking Community in Melbourne.

Jesicka joined the ESNLC team in 2019 first as a volunteer EAL assistant by way of a returning to work after starting a little family. Jesicka was then appointed EAL beginner teacher in 2020. Jesicka’s teaching style is dynamic and all her students say they learn really fast because she gives them confidence.

Vandana has worked in community sector for over 15 years as an assessor & teacher of ESL & ICT for adults. She strongly believes, as a teacher, we all learn something everyday which she enjoys. Vandana completed a Masters in TESOL from Monash. In addition, she holds a Masters degree in Business Administration. Her passion is to work with people of all ages and backgrounds, which includes teaching in primary school.
Outside work, Vandana enjoy going for long walks, travel countries, painting, reading, & embroidery. All these with a cup of coffee gives her pleasure.

Karen McKnight is a writer/performer/editor and small press publisher who has worked as a trainer, mentor and workshop facilitator with organisations such as Prahran Mission, Family Drug Help, Headway Victoria, Roomers Magazine, Women on the Waterfront Inc, Juvenile Justice and World Vision.

She has also designed and delivered many writing and career pathway projects through the Council of Adult Education, Local Councils, Health Centres, Community Neighbourhood Houses and Drop-in Centres.

She is the creator of therapeutic writing projects and career pathway programs that enable individuals and groups to access the healing power of writing and story, narrative motivational frameworks, and digital media and journalism to aide their recovery or reconnect with community. The projects Karen designs and facilitates have been seen to fill a gap in the service system for individuals who have been marginalised by circumstances, illness or disability.

Pooja has completed her ARCS course in 2018. She is currently working as a volunteer in admin and reception. She is looking for paid work. She finds herself working at the center very rewarding. She has a background in Human Resources and looks to work in admin and reception. She looks forward to coming and working here every morning.

Carolyn has been assisting Vivien in the pre-intermediate English class since 2013.  A local Elwood resident, she enjoys walking to ESLNC each Monday to work with the wonderful international students on their term projects. Carolyn holds degrees in English and Communications and has produced videos and events. These days she finds volunteering to help students with their English much more fun!

Jeremy has a background in Science and Business. Jeremy is helping out with small changes and updates to the ESNLC website. In his spare time he enjoys playing and watching sport, especially Footy, Cricket and Golf.

I’m Jamie, I live locally and I have only just recently started volunteering with ESNLC after walking past a number of times and wanting to connect more with the community and contribute in some way. My volunteer role is around working on a potential social prescription project, which focuses on engaging with people in the community via a referral from their GP and identifying their needs, and linking them with activities or supports in the community. I’m really excited about the potential for this project to connect people, as there is so much to gain from a sense of community!
I’m really enjoying volunteering in the centre so far and connecting with interesting and kind people who are inspiring the project that I am undertaking.
Please reach out if you would like to chat about the project, I would love to hear what you think!