Julie Hallifax Inducted Into Club

Julie Hallifax, our newest club member was nominated by Jan Ross and inducted into our club at our meeting on Wednesday 17th February, 2010.

In May 2009 Julie accepted a position with St John of God Ballarat to implement a new program for young people aged 12 - 25 who have, or may be at risk of, developing co morbidity of mental health and substance use issues . It is not for Private patients and is a free service.

This was a pilot program for St John of God Healthcare within Australia and funded by its Social Outreach and Advocacy arm. The service has been widely accepted and has grown rapidly including people out of the original age group.

After spending almost 9 years at Colac Area Health working as a full time Alcohol and Other Drugs counsellor, particularly case managing people on the methadone program, Julie developed an interest in mental health and its link to substance use. As such she began further study and is able to utilise that knowledge here in the Grampians region.

After 7 months of trekking to and from Colac Julie decided to move to Ballarat however as a very active member of the community became very homesick with too much time on her hands missing her family (two daughters, son in law and little grandson) and her many friends and colleagues.

The offer to join Rotary gave Julie an opportunity to become part of the community and in doing so work towards providing support for the humanitarian efforts of this club, something she is passionate about.

It will also give Julie an opportunity to meet new people and have some fun!