Proud family: Aunty Faye Lynam’s husband John Lynam and former husband Greg Ralph with her oldest daughter Jenny Greenwood and her partner Dwayne; Darcy, Kayden and Krystal Kroezen; Emma and Trent Lynam; her eldest granddaughter Kathy Ralph, along with Peta Bishoff, Jaella, Ethan, Paiton and Kaiza Lynam.
Indigenous leaders were celebrating an important extension of Aboriginal services to Kyabram on Monday with the official opening of the Aldara Yanara Aboriginal Corporation’s Aunty Faye (Lynam) Community Hub.
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For many at the opening of the Warramunda Drive facility, formerly the office of Kyabram District Heath Service’s chief executive officer, it was a sombre combination as Aunty Faye had passed away only a little more than a month before.
She was an instrumental figure in Indigenous matters in the Campaspe and Goulburn Valley regions, extending her reach Victoria-wide through her role as chair of the Indigenous Family Violence Strategy program for the Hume region.
Kyabram Indigenous leader Graham Briggs, himself a senior figure in several programs through the state, said Aunty Faye was a "very special woman and helped to deliver a voice for the north-east’’.
Mr Briggs said Aunty Faye’s favourite saying was “you load the gun and I’ll fire the bullets’’, a term in relation to her single-minded focus to achieve outcomes for the betterment of the Indigenous communities she served.
It was a chance meeting between Mr Briggs and former KDHS board chair Dale Denham that resulted in the building being secured by the corporation as its future home.
“Without the work of KDHS five years ago, this wouldn’t have happened. Dale Denham followed me out the door of a meeting one day and explained he wanted to see Kyabram have an Aboriginal voice,” Mr Briggs said.
He said the work of Simone Guinan in the lead-up to the opening had been the catalyst of the hub’s development.
“It was a great relationship and the end result is that our mob has a place of their own,” Mr Briggs said.
“There has always been services at Rumbalara and Njernda, along with the Dja Dja Warrung organisation at Bendigo.
"This now completed the link from Shepparton to Bendigo.“
He said the new facility would mean Kyabam people unable to access services at Echuca or Mooroopna could now do so in their own town.
Mr Briggs said there would be “a little lady smiling down on all of us today’’.
He paid tribute to Aldara Yenara general manager Roxanne Atkinson, along with Levi Power and Jakarra Atkinson.
Past and present board members Kieran Humphries, Taleah Briggs, Kasey Cooper, Aunty Marg Tang and Douglas Briggs were also recognised, along with former general managers Keilara Briggs, Lyn McDougall and Rod “Rupey’’ Briggs.
The new building is expected to act as a facilitator of activities for the Aboriginal community, while also fostering collaboration, creativity and excellence.
Official opening: Graham Briggs with current Kyabram District Health Service board chair Chris Motton and retired chair Dale Denham, Aboriginal health liason officer Simone Guinan, KDHS chief executive officer Anne McEvoy, Aldara Yenara director Kasey Cooper and general manager Roxanne Atkinson.
