2024 Dick Menting Community Champion joint winner-Natalie Dixon-Monu

Rev Natalie Dixon-Monu has been the Coordinator and the Minister of Boroondara Community Outreach (BCO) for the past 17 years.

BCO is a place of ‘refuge’ for vulnerable people doing it tough. It provides a safe and supportive community for those looking for a place to belong and to contribute. It is a place where the homeless, the socially isolated, those living with a mental illness, asylum seekers, people escaping family violence or those who are economically disadvantaged are welcomed, supported and valued.

BCO also plays a significant role in the reduction of food waste from the local traders and supermarkets. Fresh fruit & vegetables are donated twice a week from Kew Toscanos & Woolworths for the food relief. Last month they distributed 208 crates, 2057 nutritious meals cooked on site and 569 food parcels which include bread, dairy products, non-perishables & toiletries.

Natalie is fully committed to advocating that the needs of vulnerable people are met. She puts her heart and mind into her mission of serving at the coalface. She works hard to create a safe place where each person is valued as a member and contributes to creating the community that is BCO. BCO values compassion and respect, nurtures hope and encourages creativity.

Natalie has found her calling in serving those on the margins. Her spiritual faith and pursuit of social justice will sustain her efforts into the future. She will always be the Champion for those who come to BCO for assistance of any sort.

Her motivation and passion as the Coordinator of BCO stems from the experiences of her troubled youth and gave her the foothold to minister to others with compassion and joy. She was a youth worker and joined the Uniting Church where she was encouraged to act on her appetite for social justice. She discerned a calling for ministry in her early 20’s and has worked with disadvantaged communities for the past 30 years in prisons as a chaplain (Pentridge and Juvenile justice), in low-income suburbs in Hobart running an agency, providing parenting support and staffing a homeless shelter.

Natalie Dixon-Monu is a very deserving winner of the Dick Menting Community Champion Award.

Natalie is pictured above with (from left) Inner East Community Finance Chair, Bob Stensholt; Nooi Change, The Churches of North Balwyn; and Neil Dalrymple, Director Inner East Community Finance.