Growing the Good Life
Sunshine draws on the emerging field of relational practice to foster strong and transformative relationships within family units and communities.
The Sunshine Model was developed out of a collaborative action research project exploring what supports might enable families to grow their good life, even in the midst of navigating hard times.
The Design Phase
The two-year project was co-designed by Anglicare WA in partnership with Ruah Community Services and arose in response to the findings of the 100 Families Project, which identified ways in which the helping system can often fail families experiencing complex challenges.
By working closely with six families in the Kwinana/Rockingham region and collaborating with local organisations, the team developed and tested various support elements to help families overcome obstacles and improve their lives.
The design phase was self-funded by Anglicare WA and Ruah, with generous philanthropic support. This flexibility allowed the work to unfold iteratively in response to emerging insights without the usual constraints of a funding contract.
The Outcomes
The design and testing phase concluded in December 2023, with an independent evaluation of the project by Innovation Unit (now Third Story). During this initial 2-year phase, the team collected a range of qualitative and quantitative data from participating families and other stakeholders through surveys, semi-structured interviews, workshops.
During the project, all families achieved progress for 4-7 of the following SCORE domains.
- Reduced impact of immediate crisis
- Mental wellbeing and self-care
- Family functioning
- Material wellbeing
- Increased knowledge
- Empowerment choice and control
- Engagement with relevant supports
- Community and participation
Many funded services are considered to have achieved success if a non-complex client gains an improvement against just 1-2 of these domains, so improvement against at least four domains across the board for families with a high level of complex needs is considerable.
For more detail, please see the full project reports below.
Scaling for Impact
After promising outcomes, the model is now being scaled to support more families through transformative journeys. With the generous backing of our philanthropic partners, the ShiftLab team is embedding the Sunshine approach in key frontline services at Anglicare WA and Ruah Community Services across WA.
Sunshine coaches are now available in Geraldton, Kununurra, Albany, Perth metro, and Kalgoorlie.
Service teams implementing Sunshine receive resources, ongoing coaching, and support, along with opportunities to share learnings within a growing community of practice.
.png?language=en)
Connect with Someone New
The idea for a community conversation bench came from a community member with lived experience of mental health, with the aim of bringing sunshine into the lives of local residents.
This led to the commission of the Medina Sunshine Bench, a place where you can connect with someone new. Whether you’re looking to make a new friend or just want to share a moment with a neighbour, this bench is here for you.
