Artwork created at a wellbeing workshop as part of ROCC for Women’s peer-led women’s support program.
14 JULY 2026. Since late 2024, Coolaroo Foundation has partnered with ROCC for Women to deliver trauma-informed education and wellbeing workshops for women in the Shoalhaven region who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or navigating complex disadvantage.
Twelve workshops later, the results have been clear: attendance has grown, participants report improved confidence and wellbeing, and genuine peer connections have formed. Now, ROCC is building on that foundation with a new initiative — a Peer-Led Women's Support Program.
What it is
At the heart of the new program is a dedicated peer support worker — someone with lived experience who works alongside participants in workshops and maintains connections before and after. The peer support worker plays an important role in offering continuity of care through relationship-building and helping women to feel more empowered to develop connections and confidence outside of casework support.
The program's workshop mix is intentionally varied, combining practical skills with creative and therapeutic activities, such as:
Health education sessions run with local health providers
Life skills and service navigation workshops
Creative and therapeutic activities, including journalling and candle making
"Meet and create" social sessions
Externally facilitated programs, such as Dress for Success
What it involves
The program combines two connected elements:
Fortnightly workshops (20 per year, run during school terms) covering health education delivered in partnership with local providers, life skills and service navigation, therapeutic and creative activities, and sessions facilitated by external partners.
Ongoing individual engagement between sessions, where the peer support worker checks in, maintains connection, and helps women stay engaged with the program and each other.
Practical barriers are addressed directly — workshops are free, transport is provided, and sessions are scheduled during school hours to support women balancing caring responsibilities and other commitments. Every workshop also includes shared catering, reflecting ROCC's understanding that a shared meal helps build the safe, trauma-informed environment the program relies on.
What it's aiming to achieve
The program has clear, practical goals:
increasing workshop attendance,
strengthening engagement,
improving mental health and wellbeing,
reducing social isolation,
building confidence and self-determination, and
growing women's informal community supports alongside their formal ones.
Ultimately, it's about helping women move from crisis support toward genuine, sustained connection — to each other, to their community, and to their own sense of independence. We're proud to continue our partnership with ROCC for Women, and to support a model that is relational and grounded in what both the evidence and ROCC's own experience show actually works.
We know the difference a scholarship can make to young people in rural and regional areas — especially those whose opportunities are limited by distance. That’s why continuing our support of Rural Scholarships in 2027 was an easy decision.