This year for the Wagga Wagga NAIDOC awards, Melita was nominated for the Community Person of the Year award. With so many amazing nominations it was hard to select a winner, with Melita missing out. When I was with the committee discussing who to select, I was so blown away by how much Melita does in the community that I reached out to her to catch up and have a chat.

Melita works for Live Better as a Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) Support Officer. Melita explains CHSP as a stepping stone program for clients who may need home care packages. They may not need a high-risk home care package but would still need some support for looking after themselves at home. Melita currently manages the whole Murrumbidgee region from Albury, Wagga, Narrandera, Leeton, Griffith, and all the smaller towns and villages in between, with approximately 360 clients that she looks after. Such a hectic job, but so important for our Elders!

After work a few days a week she volunteers with Second Bite. You can find out more information about them at https://secondbite.org/ but they are one of Australia’s largest food rescue organisations. They work closely with places such as Coles to rescue surplus and unsold food that would otherwise be thrown out and distribute it to local families and charities within the community who may need it.

Melita says that her Elder, Aunty Rhonda Reid, is a huge advocate for Second Bite. Aunty Rhonda, who also runs the Yindyamarra Aboriginal Services, connects mob across NSW with their local Coles to pick up the surplus food to be delivered to mob in need.

When Melita volunteers with Second Bite she brings her daughter with her. She finds that this is a good way to bond with her daughter while passing on the knowledge she learned from her own Elders about caring for our Elders, caring for mob, and caring for community. Melita says “It’s a blessing to take care of our Elders” and that her “soul is at peace knowing that she has contributed to the community in a positive way”.

Melita is a Gamilaroi woman who says that her life wasn’t easy with her father passing away when she was 6 years old. With this loss, she also lost a lot of her culture (her mother is Non-Indigenous) but was lucky that she was accepted by the community and her family are well known. From a young age she would help her mum with household chores and cooking, and these experiences all taught her about how hard the struggles can be for single parent homes. She said she had a happy childhood though, and a lot of that is from how the local mob would help her mum, and family, out. Her experiences in life have all been part of her journey, which recently saw her spend a few years on Yuin Country to heal prior to moving back to Wagga. Her journey has led her to where she is now, with a strong desire to help the local community, saying that “you can always make time to do what you’re passionate about”.

When I asked Melita how she felt when she heard that she had been nominated for a NAIDOC award she said initially she was angry. This may seem like a weird response, but it is understandable. She says it’s because she didn’t want people to think she was doing the volunteering for praise, or accolades, but because she saw a need in the community and wanted to help. This anger turned to shame, now thinking about how people would be talking about her. But she said that she accepted to do this interview because she wants people in the community to know that there are great programs and services available if you need them.