Desire to help brings change
A PASSION for helping people drove Tracey Peace to take the helm of the Upper Ross Community Centre four years ago and she hasn’t looked back.
After more than a decade in financial planning and banking, Ms Peace said the industry lost its appeal.
“After the global financial crisis and the changes that followed, the emphasis was taken away from helping everyday mums and dads,” she said.
“It got to be working towards making the rich get richer so I sat back and thought that is not what I am about … I wanted to be able to help people so I came to Community Gro.”
Ms Peace is the centre manager at the Upper Ross Community Centre, one of two Townsville bases for support organisation Community Gro.
Having raised two children of her own, Ms Peace said she relished the opportunity to help families daily through the range of services Community Gro provided.
“Community Gro is an organisation about building community by investing in people,” she said.
“When I recently did the figures, the amount of times individuals interacted with us and our services, we are talking over 25,000 times last year.
“I love being able to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Ms Peace said the Upper Ross area could sometimes be smeared with a bad reputation but that was unfair.
She is also a member of the Upper Ross Community Voice, a grassroots organisation encouraging local community to take an interest in what’s happening in the area.
The group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at the Upper Ross Community Centre and often engages politicians, police and developers to talk about issues and advancements in the community.
“The Upper Ross is a fantastic community and I want to see it continue to grow,” Ms Peace said.