Here at Bonnie’s, workers often take turns writing blogs, about our personal experiences or those of clients we’d like to share. This time round I just couldn’t think of anything to write about until a colleague asked me what it was that stood out for…

“Remembering our Sisters”, Photo by CHERIE WINTER via Bingara Visitor Information Centre My interest in the visual arts combined with work in the domestic violence sector means I’m always on the lookout for avenues where the concept of violence is explored or presented in an…

Groups are a powerful way to bring women together to enhance personal growth.     It’s a place of safety for a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation. The focus of our Bonnie’s Creative Group is creativity. There are many benefits to being creative. Creativity improves…

My friend Julie* is charming, elegant, smart, and passionate. A caring mother and good cook, she knows how to enjoy her life. I love reading her social media updates: guided bush walks in winter by herself, a cruise with friends from the dance club, wineries…

Sometimes I find myself sitting in front of my wardrobe for an hour deciding what to wear for the day. Black pants? Nope, I wore that yesterday…jeans? Hmmm not very comfortable…grey trousers? Yes, I think that’ll do. The hour can stretch to two if I…

I am new to Bonnie’s and in my first month, I walked downstairs to see a client sitting across from her family worker. The client had the same background as my grandmother. Immediately I knew something wasn’t right. The fear in her eyes made me…

I am leaving Bonnie’s for a year to have a baby. While working on my handover, I remembered the time I left a few years back to have my son. My water broke early, and I had to stay in hospital for almost 3 weeks….

We recently had a client who arrived with her son, they were empty handed and needed our help. Mum was on a visa, which meant she didn’t have an income and couldn’t work. They had just left a violent environment and were finally safe at…

In the last few weeks I have seen many women across the world cut their hair in protest against the Iranian regime and the unjust death of Masah Amini.  Amini was just 22 years old, when she was stopped in the street and arrested by…

We live in a time of extreme technological advancement. Although this is generally a good thing because it can mean our lives are made that little bit easier, this also means that there are new ways that perpetrators of domestic violence can inflict harm upon…

  I was sitting in the doctor’s office, with my head bent toward my phone when I heard the radiologist call out a name. I looked around the room as she called it out again. My eyes landed on the clock and saw that it…

Hi! I’m new to Bonnie’s and this is my first blog, so I thought I’d write a bit about me:  I have always worked in therapeutic environments with women, as a counsellor, a friend and a wife. Now I wanted to work with women in…

When women and children come into Bonnie’s they often arrive with little or none of their belongings.  It’s often just a bag with whatever they could grab when they were leaving. In the case of Emma, and her 6 month old twins and 8 year…

Not everyone knows this about us, but we have a 24hr, 7 days a week, on-call service. The purpose of the on-call service is to respond to emergencies experienced by our clients and to answer calls from external agencies and referrers.  I can still clearly…

I started making my spirit woman about 6 months ago. I find arts and craft very therapeutic and I create different things on a regular basis as a part of both my self-care and a love for creating art. I paid a visit into the…