Welcome to Zara’s House!
We are a team of friends who are either former refugees or their friends.
Here you can make new friends with refugee women, asylum seekers and Australian women.
We help with reading, writing and speaking English, preparing for the Australian citizenship test, and improving your literacy skills in your own mother language.
We can help you become part of the Australian community while you are learning English and making a new home in Newcastle.
Zara’s House is a secular non-for-profit centre, meaning we are not connected with a church or specific religion. We welcome all faiths and cultures.
Our Mission
Our mission is to understand and address the challenges that refugees and asylum seekers face when settling into multicultural Australia. We are a team of members who care about refugees, asylum seekers, their friends, and each other. We offer our support as friends to those rebuilding their lives from the horror of war, the loss of family, home, and country.
Our Way
At Zara’s House, we begin with a welcome. We believe every woman and child deserves to feel safe, valued, and part of the community from the moment they walk through our doors.
Our philosophy is grounded in hospitality, respect, and empowerment. We see people as friends and neighbours. Many of the women we support—refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants—have experienced significant trauma and loss. Our role is not to “fix” or “resettle” them, but to walk alongside them as they rebuild their confidence, skills, and community connections.
Our Challenge
Approximately 12.5% of refugee women are in some form of paid work five years after arrival. Of those refugee women who are employed after five years, only 36% work full-time. This implies that roughly 4.5% of the total refugee woman population is in full-time employment after five years suggesting significant untapped labor potential.
Our Management Team
- Ellen Vonleh Chairperson
- Tania Gooley Vice Chairperson
- Lola Akinya Treasurer
- Wanda McInnes-Fogg Secretary
- Veronica Clayton Committee Member
- Trish O’Dowd Committee Member
- Jean-Louise Olivier Committee Member
- Catherine Smith Committee Member
- Habiba Mehraban Committee Member
- Diahn Atkins Committee Member
- Alaa Kadim Committee Member
- Fiona Parker Committee Member
- Georgia Rourke Committee Member
- Cath McCarthy Committee Member
- Wanda McInnes-Fogg Public Officer
- Farida Baremgayabo Management
- Mary Amponsah Management
- Sister Betty Brown Patron
- Sister Diana Santleben Patron
- Brother Jim Garvey Patron
