Working Together to Feed Our Community

At Bridge Builders, we believe food insecurity is not just about food, it is a cost-of-living and poverty issue. While providing practical support is essential, lasting change also requires advocacy, collaboration, and a collective community response.
 

We advocate on behalf of individuals and families experiencing hardship, working to raise awareness of the systemic issues that drive food insecurity, financial stress, and social exclusion across Mandurah and the Bindjareb (Peel) region.
 

Guided by Christian values of justice, compassion, and care for our neighbours, we are committed to ensuring that the voices of those doing it tough are heard, locally and beyond.

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Why Advocacy Matters

Food insecurity is often the result of rising living costs, limited incomes, housing stress, health challenges, and gaps in support systems. When budgets are tight, food is frequently the most flexible expense, forcing people to make impossible choices between groceries, rent, medical care, utilities, and fuel.
 

Advocacy allows us to:

• Highlight the real experiences of people in our community

• Address the root causes of food insecurity

• Influence systems and policies that impact everyday lives

• Strengthen pathways out of crisis, not just through it

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Hunger & Food Insecurity in Our Community

Food insecurity affects people from all walks of life. Increasingly, we are supporting:

• Working families

• Single-parent households

• Older Australians on fixed incomes

• People living with disability or illness

• Individuals experiencing sudden financial crisis
   

For many, food insecurity is temporary and situational, triggered by job loss, illness, relationship breakdown, or unexpected expenses. For others, it is ongoing and cyclical, driven by rising costs and limited access to affordable food and services.
 

Many households seeking help do not qualify for government assistance or fall through the gaps of existing support systems, despite doing their best to stay afloat.

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Understanding Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life.
 

It is different from hunger.

• Hunger is the physical feeling of not having enough to eat.

• Food insecurity is the set of circumstances that lead to hunger, including financial stress, limited access, and competing priorities.
   

People experiencing food insecurity may:

• Skip meals or eat less

• Rely on low-cost, low-nutrition food

• Worry constantly about running out of food

• Make trade-offs between food and other essentials such as rent, medical care, or utilities
   

There is no single face of food insecurity, and no one-size-fits-all solution.

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Our Advocacy in Action

Bridge Builders advocates across multiple areas by working alongside community partners, service providers, and local networks to strengthen outcomes for those we serve.
 

Our advocacy and collaboration includes:

• Partnering with local community organisations, churches, and service providers to improve access to food and essential supports

• Participating in local networks and working groups focused on poverty reduction, food security, and homelessness

• Supporting individuals and families to access referrals, information, and pathways to longer-term assistance

• Using lived experience and service data to inform conversations around cost-of-living pressures and community needs

• Raising awareness of food insecurity through community education, events, and campaigns
   

We also work closely with other food relief providers and social campaigns to ensure people are supported appropriately and sustainably.