Finding a Point of Difference in the community

Located off Benalla Rd, Shepparton, POD Studio is a not-for-profit service for often forgotten and pushed-aside community members.

POD Studio has been operating since 2019, first in Mooroopna before moving to a new location this year.

The space, a warehouse designed to be used by multiple groups, is safe for people of all cultures to come together and connect with their culture and other people.

Recently, the studio has found itself facing the fact that keeping the lights on and the doors open might not be possible.

Co-founder Betul Tuna does not know how much longer running the studio will be viable.

“At this point, I don’t know if we’ll see the end of the year,” she said.

“We started off with one month at a time, and we’ve dropped that to days and weeks.

“I’m expecting hours soon.”

The biggest problem the studio has been facing is funding issues.

Ms Tuna said they were initially offered a 12-month pilot program to allow them to get work done without needing to worry about funds.

“Unfortunately, for whatever reason, that wasn’t fulfilled,” she said.

“We never really understood why we were never actually offered an explanation as to why, too.”

Ms Tuna, her co-founder Mellisa Silaga, and their team of volunteers continue to do everything possible to keep the space open.

“We don’t do this for ourselves,” she said.

“So that’s why we’re able to endure the exhaustion because it’s almost like we have a greater picture that doesn’t involve us in the centre of it.

“Everyone will fit into the POD no matter what our building looks like, no matter where we are.

“We started in our lounge rooms, in our garages, in our backyards.

“And if this means that we go back to where we started, then we’ll go back to where we started.

“We don’t want our community to think that at any point, if these doors lock, they will not have access to the support here.”

POD studio is where people from all kinds of cultures come together, especially through the Know Your Roots program that operates out of the studio, which helps connect students with local community leaders to share in Pacific Island cultures.

The students are preparing for the Pasifika Festival on Saturday, November 25, at KidsTown Mooroopna.

Even if the road may be tough for them, Ms Tuna and her team of volunteers are determined to do what it takes to keep this organisation running.

“What makes Shepparton different and unique is not because it’s the fruit bowl of Australia, but because it is where the world meets,” she said.

“Investing in spaces like this is about the wellbeing of Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley and surrounding.”