About the House
We've been on Main Street since 1989.
We're a small neighbourhood house. People come here for a meal, a program, a bit of company — and now to learn digital skills they can actually use.
A neighbourhood house, not a program office
Gormandale Community House Inc was established on 31 December 1989. We registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission on 2 December 2012. We are a small charity. Our financial year ends on 30 June. We operate in Victoria, from this town, for this town and the people who can get here.
Neighbourhood Houses Gippsland describes us plainly: a house where you can meet friends and make new ones, join a program, share a hobby, or hire a room. Call in for a friendly face and a chat. That is still the job. Coordinator Lori White keeps the day-to-day running; a volunteer committee is the responsible people of the charity.
Fundraising still goes where it has always gone: the community garden; very low-cost meals, especially for older and isolated neighbours; Pay It Forward food relief; safer, healthier facilities; and free community events. What is new is a deliberate turn toward digital skills, digital grants, and the tools that let rural people earn in a world that now happens on a screen.
Mission
Our mission
To welcome, nourish and skill the people of Gormandale and the surrounding districts — through food, gardens, arts, friendship and, as the world changes, practical digital capability — so every neighbour can belong, contribute, and make a living.
Vision
Our vision
A resilient rural community that is never left behind by technology. The Community House remains the warm front door to a meal, a garden bed and a conversation — and a place where digital skills sit beside the kitchen and the workshop as everyday tools for a good life.
How we work
Four things we will not trade away
A door that is actually open
We are a neighbourhood house, not a waiting room. Call in for a friendly face and a chat. Programs are run at low or no cost so money is not the barrier.
Practical care first
Meals, food relief, a garden, a safe hall. Before anyone talks about the digital economy, people need lunch, company and a place that is warm in winter.
Dignity in every offering
Pay It Forward, community lunch and emergency relief are designed so people can accept help without ceremony. We serve the person in front of us, not a category.
Skills that travel
Woodwork, cooking, art and now AI, video, websites and social media. What you learn here should be usable on Monday — at home, in a job, or to earn from your own work.
Who the charity helps
The ACNC list is long because the town is mixed.
We report a wide beneficiary group because that is who walks in: children and elders, First Nations neighbours, people new to the country, people with disability, people between jobs, people leaving prison, veterans, people recovering from violence or disaster. The House does not sort them at the door.
Children, young people and families
From early childhood through to youth aged 15–25, and the families around them.
Older neighbours and people living alone
Adults 65 and over, and anyone isolated by distance, health or circumstance — a particular focus of our low-cost meals.
People doing it hard
Financially disadvantaged people, people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, unemployed people, victims of crime including family violence, and people recovering from disaster.
First Nations and multicultural communities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
People with disability or illness
People with disabilities and people living with chronic or terminal illness, and those who care for them.
Everyone who lives here
Women and men, LGBTIQA+ people, veterans and their families, people leaving prison and their families, and the general community of rural Gippsland.
Responsible people
Committee and staff
The committee are the charity’s responsible people. Day-to-day coordination sits with staff. Names and direct emails are on the team page.
Read the public record
Annual Information Statements and financial reports are lodged with the ACNC. We are a member of Neighbourhood Houses Gippsland and Neighbourhood Houses Victoria.