Walter Vilagonzalo - The Migrant Hub and WynTREE
At Volunteer West, we celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of people across Melbourne’s Western suburbs.
For Walter Vilagonzalo, volunteering in these diverse communities is important to make new migrants feel at home, feel accepted and like they belong. His own journey to connectedness with Australian land has not always been smooth. A common theme with skilled migrants in Australia is to go back to their home country, as they find it difficult to have their skills recognised.
Walter found himself following that trajectory, even after living in Melbourne for 12 years. Walter moved his whole family back to the Philippines, leaving employment and a few small businesses he’d built up in Australia behind. His five children pleaded with him that they belonged in Australia, “we are Australians” they said. Although Walter was torn, feeling grounded and settled back in the Philippines, he decided with his wife Liza to bring the whole family back to Australia to stay for good, for their children’s sake.
“We are a family and we belong together”
What has helped Walter feel a sense of belonging? Volunteering.
Addressing his fear of not being able to use his skills, Walter decided to volunteer. The more he did, the more he felt he belonged and recognised as a member of the community. His volunteering and commitment to helping others hasn’t gone unnoticed. Walter has won several awards for his selfless and outstanding contributions to the local community, migrants and asylum seekers in Victoria including being named Citizen of the Year 2015 in Wyndham City, Australia’s Social Enterprise Champion 2016, and Philippine Australian Achiever Award 2016.
Walter founded and has been President of the social enterprise The Migrant Hub for 12 years, which aims to support migrants becoming more integrated within Australian society. The Migrant Hub operated a community Café and provided short-term accommodation and settlement support to more than 1,000 asylum seekers.
After volunteering for over 20 years, he has accumulated an array of positions including being a member of the Regional Advisory Council of the Victorian Multicultural Commission and of the Ministerial Council for Volunteers, and was elected Councillor of Wyndham City 2016-2020 and was Deputy Mayor in 2017-2018.
Currently, Walter is co-anchor of a daily Facebook live program livestreamed to several countries supporting organisations, international students in Australia and families in need in the Philippines.
Walter shared more about his volunteering experiences, and he sure does have some inspiring stories...
What do you enjoy about volunteering and why is volunteering important to you?
I have frustration for the lack of opportunities for skilled migrants coming to Australia. The solution is volunteering, getting involved and giving back. Working with people is always something I’ve enjoyed.
What is your top tip for someone thinking about volunteering?
Just do it. There are lots of reasons to think about why you should volunteer. It is a rewarding experience and if you are looking for jobs, you will learn new skills and widen your network which can lead to more job opportunities.
What is your most memorable experience volunteering?
In 2015, I broke my leg whilst moving furniture at our accommodation facility for Asylum Seeker. I was in a cast and on crutches for six months. That year, I was awarded the Citizen of the Year Award from Wyndham City Council while my organisation, The Migrant Hub was named Community Group of the Year.
I went up the stage on crutches 3 times to receive the awards witnessed by my family.
My family sometimes asked me why I bother with volunteering, spending time away from home to help people I barely knew. Sacrificing my family time and sometimes dinner, to volunteer. I do it because it was rewarding, and I can contribute to my community. When I accepted that award, I knew my family realised my time spent away from them was not wasted but was appreciated by my community, their community.
What have you learned about yourself and your community through volunteering?
One of the best solutions to feel a sense of belonging is volunteering, getting involved and giving back even when you don’t feel like giving back. Lots of people see their parents volunteering and they then become volunteers themselves. Migrants will soon be the majority in the west – they need to volunteer to be good role models.
What’s next for Walter?
Setting up local cooperatives which help to build more financially sustainable communities. Walter is working with others in the community to establish the WynTree and Canopy Accelerator Co-operatives.
WynTREE is a local co-operative establishing a community-owned tree nursery helping address climate change and creating employment opportunities by supplying seedlings and trees to local councils as well as government and private tree projects. It also aims to promote active citizenship and social and economic inclusion by providing opportunities for local residents, asylum seekers and migrants to participate in local community enterprises. See it featured amongst other brilliant organisations in our recent blog post - WestSeed: Meet the organisations taking refugee unity to the next level.
Although WynTREE is still in the early stages of implementation, Walter is on the lookout for volunteers to grow seedlings in their backyards. All materials and training will be provided to ensure the healthy growth of the trees which will later be transferred into a tree nursery.
You can contact Walter on: 0422452019
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