Meet Nazreen Dean, part of our Celebrating Neighbourhood Good project

Here at Westpoint we’re celebrating Neighbourhood Good. We’re proud of our community, and the people working in it to help others. In our neighbourhood, people are creating positive change every day, making lives better, taking care of those in need and creating a place where we all feel safe and welcome. That’s why we’re sharing their stories with you – to show you that there is so much good in our community, and to say how proud we are to be a part of it. Because ours is a place for everyone, where our community comes together.

Meet Nazreen Dean, Support Centre Coordinator at St Vincent De Paul Blacktown.

For Nazreen, Blacktown is filled with positivity, even though her role is about helping those in need.

“I love the fact that it's a great place to work,” she says. “There's a sense of belonging here in Blacktown. It doesn't matter which race or religion or culture you belong to. If you walk into this suburb, everybody will be like, ‘Hi, how are you going?’ Whether they know you or not!”

“I also enjoy the company of the people that I work with,” she adds. “They’re all volunteers and goodness gracious, rain, hail, or shine they're here doing their hours. They're an amazing, amazing group of people that I work with. This place would not be what it is if it wasn't for my volunteers!”

Nazreen says she leapt at the chance to take on her role with St Vincent De Paul, because their community work is something she really admires.

“I've always worked in not-for-profit organisations,” she says. “But I was working for housing before I started here – and I just wanted to come back out into the community.

“I especially liked the mission of this society, giving people a hand up rather than a hand-out. So many charity organizations are just handing out.”

“What I also like about this place is that we support the clients to reach their destiny,” she says. “We assist them to become self-sufficient. We give them the tools to help themselves and to make their situations better. We’re teaching them life skills, teaching them budgeting skills, teaching them how to make the right choices.

“The staff, the members, and the volunteers who work here, all work with people to offer the best possible support for their needs,” she continues. “We provide advocacy. We do referrals and we support clients to get the appropriate services. If they need ongoing food assistance, we refer them to an organisation that does that on a regular basis, though we certainly offer them food when they walk in. Our aim is to give people what they need to make informed decisions and choices.”

For Nazreen, coming to work at the Support Centre every day is enjoyable – though it can be tough, especially while we’re still dealing with the fallout from COVID 19 and the economic implications of a pandemic.

“As I said, there’s a real sense of belonging here. It's almost like family. We all share the same common goals. At the end of the day, we all want to make our dollar stretch a little bit further,” she says. “It's the same with people who are on our welfare benefits. They're exactly in the same situation. They also need to make sure that they've got enough money to pay their rent or to buy food or to pay the bills.”

Right now, of course, people are doing it extra tough, and Nazreen says she can see that it’s taking a toll on the community – but she’s quick to give a message of hope.

“At the moment, because of everything that's happening, everywhere that I look, I can see feelings of hurt,” she says. “People are impatient. They're cranky. Everyone's going through something. All I can say is just look beyond what you're going through and just employ a little bit of kindness. I think kindness can bridge the divides of race, religion, politics, gender. Just show a little bit of compassion. Just smile, and just be kind because it can go miles.”