Supporting Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Women - Case Study
Inclusion is at the heart and soul of Lou’s Place, so we were touched when a member of our community decided to document her journey with us, as a marginalized woman, and share it as a case study.
You can read the full case study below.
What is the driving force behind Australia’s hospitality to those in need?
A case study at Lou’s place by K.H. Lee (2025)
Acknowledgement
I am writing to express gratitude for the incredible help and support many women from linguistically and culturally diverse origins have received since I have known about Lou’s Place. I first visited Lou's place during the COVID-19 period in December 2021, when I was facing difficulties due to isolation and a lack of social interaction. One of the staff members at Lou's place, Alice, welcomed me with a warm smile, and showed me respect, empathy and cultural awareness. She introduced all the programs they had to offer and gave me details about the new place they would be moving to soon. Thanks to her hospitality, I was encouraged to access Lou's place again. I have sometimes received assistance from Lou’s place since 2024.
I am also very grateful for the incredibly kind and sincere guidance provided by the service manager, Hannah. Hannah is always respectful, gracious, and also very positive, which has given the many women who visit there much courage. Hannah has also demonstrated the ability to integrate cultural awareness and strong communication skills in serving clients, making them feel more comfortable. I would also like to express my thanks to Client Service Officer Jenni, who has been working tirelessly to assist clients such as me. She possesses a wonderful and deep understanding of various clients’ needs. For example, when I was in a very desperate situation, she was able to refer me to a caseworker for Opal card assistance, which saved me from paying a $200 train fine penalty. Lastly I wanted to express my gratitude to Darcy, who is also one of the client service officers – she is very empathetic and sincerely listens to the clients doing her very best to help them.
Introduction
The objective of this feedback is to express gratitude from the many clients accessing Lou’s place for the amazing help and support the staff of Lou’s place have shown to women from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds and for how hospitable the staff members have been. Staff members’ have incorporated hospitality and cultural sensitivity which has provided many ladies opportunities for social interaction. Lou’s place achieves this by offering various learning programs and enjoyable activities including music, arts, yoga and mindfulness. Formulating and understanding the relationship between personal and professional needs of clients in a charity context is important to assist vulnerable women so that they can achieve their goals. It also provides them with social interaction through various enjoyable activities in a relaxing and nonjudgemental setting.
The first part of this paper looks at various aspects of staff at Lou’s place including:
how hospitable the staff members are;
what ability they have to integrate cultural diversity in serving their clients;
how they encourage their clients to benefit from services in a non-judgemental community and
what programs and activities are available
In the last two parts, this paper will look at how staff members’ hospitality examined in the first part will help lead clients to have better social interactions in a non-judgemental setting using different activities and learning programs. This should encourage clients’ desires to learn something new through the learning programs & activities offered in a relaxing, wonderful, and non-judgemental setting that Lou’s place creates. The first part analyses the abilities staff need to have to effectively assist clients, as well as the importance of the relationship between staff members and clients. Finally, the conclusion expresses gratitude for staff members’ tireless efforts to help their clients and to encourage more communities, more local governments, and more people to become aware of the great programs Lou’s place has to offer. It also identifies what abilities Lou’s place may have that are more effective for their clients and what sort of strategies clients themselves can employ to fully obtain benefits from Lou’s place.
Hospitality, cultural sensitivity, strong communication skills, and empathy
When communicating with the public, migrants may experience interactions with locals that can be demoralising, if not hostile. This could be due to cultural and linguistic differences, unfamiliarity, or inherent biases. On top of that, people in Australia are sometimes judged based on their skin colour and nationality, rather than their abilities and skills (Maddox & Gray, 2002; Herring, Keith, & Horton, 2004; Keith & Herring, 1991). However, many women from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds have a different, more positive experience as they start to access Lou’s place and the services there. Lou’s place has provided women in need with assistance since 1999 and aims to provides a safe environment for all women offering them comprehensive care in a non-judgemental community. At Lou’s place they can access a stunning array of services including meals, showers, clothes, laundry, medical care, legal assistance for domestic abuse, crisis referrals, and case management.
Incredibly, there is no racial or cultural discrimination for women in this charity setting. Any woman who needs assistance is welcome. The staff members provide vulnerable women with hospitality, empathy, and cultural awareness which helps remove barriers that they have experienced in society. Also, the staff members of Lou’s place have always shown every client kindness and hospitality. Whenever clients came in, they greet customers with a bright smile and a comforting tone when they explain their programs and vast array of activities to clients. This had led to more clients accessing Lou’s place where they are able to benefit from various programs and assistance Lou’s place provides. Increased safety, access, and equity for all groups is a result of staff members efforts to provide culturally sensitive services and exhibiting empathy in addressing clients needs. This may also encourage clients to attend appointments and feel comfortable coming in to access services (Bennett & Morse, 2023: Stewart, 2006).
It is likely, the Service Manager has encouraged staff to integrate cultural awareness into client care and this creates a relaxing environment where cultural and racial discrimination is completely absent, removing barriers to equity. Her dedication can improve understanding, equality, and accessibility for women from various backgrounds.
A country's cultural and diplomatic standing can indeed be reflected in how its social workers interact with marginalised populations (Bennett & Morse, 2023). Like these two authors’ state, it is very important to acknowledge the sincerity staff members of Lou’s place display in helping marginalised women from culturally and linguistically diverse origins as this can inspire others in our society. The staff members’ of Lou’s place are applying their culturally sensitivity through their communication skills by using empathy and understanding in tackling diversity and equity issues clients face. Generosity is thought to not only support the community but also generate a positive social or public reputation for society (Chen et al., 2017; Porter and Kramer, 2002; Wang et al., 2019). In the next paragraph, the benefits from providing a better environment with social interaction for clients will be explored further.
Social interaction
Staff members of Lou's place try to provide a welcoming environment and to improve their services which leads to improved attendance at appointments (Bennett & Morse, 2023: Stewart, 2006). By doing so, it is believed that staff members can strengthen their relationships with clients to enhance their well-being. The staff of Lou’s place are able to build trusting relationships with clients centred on providing a welcoming and hospitable environment at Lou’s place and providing them opportunities for social interaction. In this relaxing setting, Lou's place creates intrinsic motivation for women from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds to come to Lou’s place and engage in social interaction (Lee, 2021). For example, when women first come to Lou’s place, they didn’t converse much with others, and ate while watching TV. However, with the support of staff, they gradually began to meet one another, allow each other space when using the washing machine, exchange information, and share their respective cultures with each other. This is a good example showing how Lou’s place facilitates social interaction.
The increased social interaction created by the welcoming environment has a significant impact on the women's mental health. Simply being in a new location did not guarantee that all women made use of the increased chances for social engagement, as their motivation was influenced by a range of internal and contextual factors (Lee, 2021). This provides a useful lesson to other countries who try to enhance the wellbeing of vulnerable women. One such example at Lou’s place is when a staff member sat with a new client and tried to watch TV with her so that the lady felt comfortable and relaxed.
Another example is when a client arrived in a fit of rage, upon which the CEO of Lou's place invited her into her office and listened to her life story and even prepared tissues for her. We were deeply touched by the CEO's generosity. What propelled clients to engage in more social interaction was the vast array of activities that they could engage in at Lou’s place, which they mentioned were fun and enjoyable (Lee, 2021). In the next section, the activities, learning programs and therapeutic groups provided to clients will be discussed further.
Activities, learning programs and therapeutic programs in a non-judgemental setting
By offering person-centred and tailored assistance to women, Lou's Place aims to establish trustworthy relationships with clients so as to improve the client’s personal welfare. In addition, it aims to construct and provide a safe environment for all women by offering comprehensive care in a non-judgemental community. Staff members are welcoming and empathetic in this setting which extends beyond merely providing assistance to include learning programs and a wide range of activities. These include workshops for health, creative writing, yoga, music, art, sewing, and jewellery-making so as to give clients meaningful and lifechanging experiences (Cockburn-Wootten & McIntosh, 2020). Women from various backgrounds mentioned that they did not have this relaxing environment in their home country, and were happy that Lou’s place provided them person-centred and innovative programs that enhanced their individual well-being. They can engage in enjoyable social interaction and other activities there (Lee, 2021). They said the new learning environment at Lou's pace offering a wide range of activities like creative writing, yoga, art, painting, music, sewing, and jewellery making, was interesting and pleasant.
Some women have experienced severe hardships such as domestic violence, homelessness and placing children in foster care and in these cases, Lou's Place offers therapeutic groups to assist them. The clients are given the autonomy to select social contacts in the organisation and several different activities that can be beneficial to them (Lee, 2021). As Barron (2006) notes “this independence affords greater opportunity to adapt one’s environment” (Lee, 2021; Barron, 2006, p. 196). Like these two authors mention, some women believe that these activities have helped them with their self-esteem. Furthermore, many clients have claimed that sewing is really beneficial because it not only allows them to mend their clothing but also saves money. Learning new skills and partaking in engaging activities can increase self-esteem by instilling a sense of achievement and competence (Yadav, 2024). For example, a few clients mentioned that they came for support and food, however, through their exposure to the learning activities offered, they gained self-esteem. To reach both Lou’s place and clients’ goals, continuous improvement from collaborative and culturally responsive staff can improve services for marginalised woman from different cultures (Bennett & Morse, 2023). The skills staff possess such as cultural sensitivity, empathy, and communication skills help encourage clients to engage in learning programs and enjoyable activities that might benefit them (Gretzinger & Hicks, 2024). This non-judgemental community can positively change the lives of clients as well as help build a healthy society which provides dreams and hope to its vulnerable citizens.
Conclusion
I have written the feedback in this paper to express my gratitude to the staff of Lou’s place for the support they provide to marginalised women and others from different cultures now and into the future. Your philanthropic legacy and generosity is greatly appreciated and it will be remembered. This feedback paper hopes to spread the word about the beautiful assets Lou’s place has so that more vulnerable women will have the opportunity to share the spirit and purpose of the Lou’s place. The discussion in this paper also provides an overview for government and communities to encourage direct engagement not only with the clients that access Lou’s place but also to the many donors who support it. The paper illustrates what skills and abilities staff of the Lou’s place posses to work tirelessly in serving vulnerable women. This can be helpful in formulating strategies to build a wonderful, non-judgemental community where every woman is treated equally. Many clients are experiencing difficulties and may need something to boost their self- esteem. They were encouraged through social interaction to engage in enjoyable activities in a relaxing and safe environment at Lou’s place. In summary, this is an important community where women are encouraged to have a better life perspective that helps them reach their goals and navigate their identity. This paper also expresses my heartfelt gratitude to the staff members as well as Lou's Place CEO, Mandy, for their support and kindness over the years. Lastly, I hope that the warm stories of support provided by staff and a thorough understanding of their dedication will be shared with more people in communities around Sydney as well as around the world. I also hope that the family and future of Lou's place will be filled with abundant blessings, and that the gift of love will be delivered to them.
Reference
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Bindi Bennett & Claire Morse (2023) The Continuous Improvement Cultural Responsiveness Tools (CICRT): Creating More Culturally Responsive Social Workers, Australian Social Work, 76:3, 315-329, DOI: 10.1080/0312407X.2023.2186255
Chen, M.-H., Chen, C.-C. and Jiang, Y. (2022) ‘Risk reduction effect of hospitality philanthropic giving: Theoretical Framework and empirical evidence’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 103, p. 103224. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103224.
Cockburn-Wootten, C., & McIntosh, A. (2020). Bridging hospitality education and community. Hospitality Insights, 4(1), 3-4. https://doi.org/10.24135/hi.v4i1.74
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Yadav, S. (2024, November 13). Learning a new skill can significantly boost your Self-Confidence. Medium. https://medium.com/publishous/learning-a-new-skill-can-significantly-boost-your-self-confidence-1086e772cb4