Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network (RIMERN) is a multi Rotary club project that supports local people in need and keeps homewares out of landfill.
Based out of a warehouse in East Brunswick, the group accepts donations of good quality, smaller, contemporary style homewares for clients in Merri-Bek and surrounding inner Melbourne areas.
RIMERN responds to requests from leading welfare agencies as they help their clients into secure housing following periods of homelessness, domestic violence, incarceration, refugee displacement and loss from disaster or ill health.
At the RIMERN warehouse, clients select their own goods, choosing items that match their taste and decor, from sofas, beds, white goods and linen to electrical goods and decor such as cushions and art work.
RIMERN is volunteer run and supplies around eight full houses a week, with demand growing every month.
Get RIMERN support
If you’d like to access RIMERN’s homewares you will need to go through one of the welfare agencies listed on their website (such as Launch Housing, Melbourne City Mission or VACCA) – or be sponsored by one of the 16 member Rotary Clubs involved in the project.
Donate your goods or volunteer
If you’d like to donate goods, visit the website to see what they do and don’t need, and the donation process.
If you’d like to volunteer, the East Brunswick warehouse is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays (10am – 3pm) or Saturdays (10am – 2pm) and most volunteers stay for around three hours. There are a variety of volunteer roles to suit varying levels of fitness, from sorting goods and assembling orders to fundraising and more. Visit the website to find out more.
RIMERN regularly posts pictures of the set up of homes on their facebook page and shares more information on their website.
Read more
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Repair, reuse, borrow and swap services in Merri-bek
