Announcing your 2023 Westfield Local Hero

We are excited to announce Anushka Phal from Umeed Psychology as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Plenty Valley!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Anushka and Umeed Psychology 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.

Nominations for the 2024 Westfield Local Heroes program are open now. If you know someone who's making an impact, nominate them as a Westfield Local Hero - nominate here.

Your 2023 Westfield Plenty Valley Local Hero is:

Anushka Phal

Umeed Psychology

Charismatic. Empathetic. Legend.

Empathetic Anushka Phal goes above and beyond to provide mental health support for culturally and linguistically diverse people in her community and beyond.

Anushka is the founder of the Umeed social enterprise psychology practice, where she helps people feel heard and safe.

In addition to her culturally sensitive one-on-one psychological therapy, Anushka has reached more than 6500 people with her free SafeSpaces Program. The program runs events and webinars that help people recover from adversity and build community resilience and a sense of belonging.

One of Anushka’s latest initiatives is the Whittlesea South Asian Women's Domestic Violence SafeSpace. This program helps domestic violence survivors overcome their trauma. It also fosters community connections and teaches skills needed for independent living.

As a New Zealand-born Fijian Indian, Anushka understands that multiculturalism can be both beautiful and challenging. Her greatest rewards are being told by a client that they feel understood for the first time or receiving feedback that her program has helped people feel safe and connected.

Anushka feels recognised and appreciated by being nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “It truly signifies that I have been able to positively impact the lives of individuals in my community and make a meaningful difference through my actions or service.”

Umeed Psychology will use its funds to cover the costs of more than 100 sessions for two new culturally informed programs.

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

Kevin Potter from Countrywide Community Mission Victoria

Kevin Potter is the founder and president of Countrywide Community Mission Victoria, where he puts his Christian values into practice by providing up to 80 families a month with grocery parcels. Kevin treats everyone like family and has assisted 28,000 families with 93,000 parcels over the years.

Leanne Greening from Juno

Leanne Greening generously shares her experience of domestic violence and homelessness to help others achieve a better life. Leanne is a volunteer peer educator at Juno, where she courageously, skilfully and thoughtfully helps women and non-binary people recognise and leave unsafe relationships and develop life skills to apply for public housing and manage finances.

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