We are excited to announce Nellie Doueihi from St Declan's Catholic Church as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Hurstville!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Nellie and NSt Declan's Catholic Church to continue to grow their impact in the local community

The 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million to support local communities.

For further information or to discover the Westfield Local Heroes at other Westfield centres, visit the Westfield Local Heroes website.

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Your 2023 Westfield Hurstville Local Hero is:

Nellie Doueihi

St Declan's Catholic Church
Humble. Creative. Generous.

Caring Nellie Doueihi is a community innovator who brings comfort and connection to hundreds of older people.

Nellie is the Coordinator of Ministries to the Sick and Elderly at St Declan's Catholic Church in Penshurst, where she provides 130 volunteers with an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on 300 elderly people.

In addition to providing pastoral care to grieving or vulnerable people, Nellie works tirelessly to develop new programs.

A standout initiative is her Tech Savvy Seniors, where high school students from Marist College Penshurst help elderly people connect with technology. In return, the young instructors learn valuable life lessons. Another program is Nursing Home Outreach, where Year 6 students make Easter and Christmas gifts with personalised messages for elderly residents.

Nellie also organises information sessions to encourage positive ageing and support grieving people. She also introduced a fall-prevention program, which helps build confidence and encourages friendships.

She also accompanies families offering comfort and support in funeral preparations and leads a team providing tele-support to the elderly or homebound.

Nellie is humbled to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “I love that my work has purpose and meaning. We have a duty of care to the elderly and vulnerable in our community,” she says.

St Declan's Catholic Church will use its funds for a Life Stories recording project so they can buy digital equipment and cover prorgram costs.

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We'd like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Andrew Paschalidis from Heartbeat of Football Foundation Limited

Football tragic Andrew Paschalidis has saved lives with his relentless campaign to prevent and treat on-field cardiac arrest.  Andy is the founder and CEO of the Heartbeat of Football Foundation, which offers simple screening checks for players, advocates for defibrillators for all sports fields and provides first aid education.

Lala Noronha OAM from The Kogarah Storehouse

Lala Noronha OAM is General Manager at the Kogarah Storehouse, where she helps hundreds of people a month with emergency food parcels, financial aid and life-enhancing programs. Since starting her role in 2015, she has led the Storehouse through unprecedented growth, with a three-fold increase in people seeking and receiving help.

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If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14

Recognising all our 2023 nominees

View all of the Westfield Hurstville nominees and their organisations.