Deirdre Coghlan Bursary Award

Since 2016, Q Shelter has awarded a bursary in the name of Deirdre Coghlan, a founding and life member of Q Shelter. Deirdre was known to many Queenslanders as a champion of social housing and as an outstanding community development worker.

Deirdre contributed significantly to the founding of Bric Housing, through a collaboration involving four community housing providers. In her later years, Deirdre was also a proud tenant of Bric Housing and famously achieved an amazing level of community development with other social housing tenants in Redcliffe. She loved her role and the difference it made.

The bursaries, totalling $5,000 per annum, fund professional development activities for Q Shelter members who work or volunteer in the affordable housing and homelessness sector.

In 2022, the winners of the Deirdre Coghlan Bursary Award included:

• Tanya Sanders from Yoorana Women’s Domestic Violence and Resource Centre
  • Funding to provide a full day, tailored Human Rights training workshop to their committee, management team, and staff.
• Emma Stafford from Queensland Injectors Health Network
  • Funding for a Blood Collection and Cannulation course, which will enable QuIHN’s medical bus team to provide a more holistic health outreach service for people experiencing homelessness in the Moreton Bay region.
• The Immediate Support Accommodation Team from Kingston East Neighbourhood Centre
  • Funding for the team to attend “Working with people affected by hoarding and squalor” training.
• Jen Peterson, Housing Older Women Movement
  • Funding to complete the Foundations training program with Nambour Community Centre.
• Dianne Estreich, WIN Housing Projects
  • Funding towards completing a short course in communication, negotiation, and influence.

Applications for the 2023 Deirdre Coghlan Bursary have now closed. The winner will be announced at Q Shelter’s AGM on 9 November.