Kerry Gleeson. Photo: supplied
For more than 15 years, Kerry Gleeson has been a dedicated Lived Experience Practitioner and Advocate supporting individuals and families across the Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula. Her work spans suicide prevention and postvention, grief support, trauma‑informed care, Mental health and community advocacy. Much of this support is provided voluntarily, especially to people who cannot access or have felt failed by funded services.
Kerry’s voluntary contributions include:
- Supporting families after suicide loss when aftercare services were unavailable
- Advocating for community members experiencing unsafe or inadequate care
- Assisting families facing homelessness after traumatic events
- Facilitating free anxiety support groups for Way Ahead Mental Health
- Co‑facilitating the Bereaved by Suicide group with Lifeline Northern Beaches
- Connecting bereaved parents to reduce isolation
- Chairing the Northern Beaches Council Mental Health Month wellbeing event, coordinating over 25 local services
- Assist Chair for Homelessness Interagency
- Serving on the Avalon Youth Hub Steering Group
- Contributing lived‑experience guidance to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy
Kerry has now establishing The Kerry Gleeson Centre, a not‑for‑profit designed to make this work sustainable and community‑led.
This Issue a few insights into the The Kerry Gleeson Centre, from Kerry Gleeson.
Why have you launched The Kerry Gleeson Centre?
I launched The Kerry Gleeson Centre because too many people are falling through the gaps for all kinds of reasons. I’m not saying all services fail our community, far from it.
But after 15 years working on the frontline across the Northern Beaches, I see firsthand what happens when people are turned away, told they don’t meet criteria, don’t fit funding requirements, or are left waiting months for support. By the time many reach me, they’ve already lost hope.
Every day I receive recommendations or referrals for people facing trauma, homelessness, domestic violence, suicide risk, grief after suicide loss, anxiety, and everything in between.
Often, they’re people who haven’t felt supported or haven’t received the kind of support they needed. I meet with advocate for them, sit beside them, and create space where they can feel like they might get through.
I’m fortunate to have strong colleagues in our community who step in when I advocate. And more recently, I’ve had to contact local MPs to help Advocate.
I started my own practice, The Advocate, a year ago, but it’s not sustainable. Most of the people I support can’t pay, or they’ve already exhausted their savings on private practitioners. And I can’t bring myself to charge families who have lost someone to suicide. It’s an honour to hold space for them and help them navigate what comes next.
Starting this registered charity is my way of making the work sustainable. With funding, I can support more people, and I can recruit, mentor, and train volunteers with lived experience to offer the kind of connection that can genuinely shift someone’s life.
I’ve seen the power of one honest connection with someone who truly understands.
I wanted to create a place that doesn’t rely on thresholds or eligibility. A place that focuses on early intervention, not just crisis response. A place where people can walk in exactly as they are and be met with compassion, honesty, and someone who truly deeply listens.
The Centre exists because shared connection and mutual understanding — offered in a safe space at the right time — can change the direction of someone’s life.
What will be available, and for whom?
The Centre is for anyone who feels overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure where to turn; whether they’re right at the beginning of their struggle or already deep in it. There’s no age limit, no criteria, no hoops to jump through. If someone needs support, they’re welcome.
We offer:
- Early‑intervention support
- Trauma‑informed counselling and advocacy
- Peer support from people with lived experience
- Suicide prevention and postvention support
- Grief and loss support
- Integrative healing modalities — Somatic tools, Trauma Informed Breathwork, Reiki, grounding practices
- Wellbeing classes and therapeutic activities
- Community workshops and education
- Practical support and system navigation
Everything is free, accessible, and built on a no‑wrong‑door approach. People don’t need a diagnosis, a referral, or a crisis threshold. They are welcome as they are.
We’re also not limited by age, background, or the type of struggle someone is facing. Anyone in our community with any story, any experience can walk in and be met with connection, honesty, and someone who truly listens.
We’re working towards opening a dedicated Centre where people can gather, feel safe, and access whatever support they need under one roof. Until then, we’ll be running drop‑ins in council venues — creating spaces where people with shared experiences can connect, support one another, and access different modalities within the group.
The goal is simple: bring people together, reduce isolation, and offer real authentic connection at the right time.
We are starting by running local community groups on Tuesday nights at Lakeview Tramshed, Narrabeen. From 6.30-8.00pm. This first is a grief group on Tuesday 12th May.
Why have you wanted to serve others in this way?
Because I know what it feels like to be overwhelmed and not know where to turn. In my own life, it wasn’t just talk therapy that helped, it was timing, connection, and different modalities that actually helped me work through my trauma and survive my own experiences with suicidality. It was someone listening, holding space without judgement. It was being met by someone who genuinely understood.
The modalities that helped me rebuild myself, Somatic work, breathwork, grounding, Reiki, and other integrative tools — were so important in my own healing that I went out and trained in them. I wanted to be able to offer the same kind of support to others, especially to people who feel like nothing else has reached the deeper layers of what they’re going through.
That’s why I work the way I do. I know the power of being met by someone who authentically gets it not in theory, but in lived experience.
And I see the difference this makes in people’s lives every day. Sometimes one solid connection is enough to shift someone from feeling completely lost to feeling like they can take the next step. It’s powerful, but it’s simple. It’s what we should all have access to.
That’s the heart of why I serve in this way: because connection, offered at the right time, can change everything.
What has been the most rewarding aspect for you of speaking up for others in this sphere?
The most rewarding part is seeing someone’s life turn around is not because of anything dramatic I’ve done, but because they’ve been given the right support, the right tools, and a safe space to feel heard and understood without judgment. All I’m doing is empowering people, sharing what I know, and holding space. They’re the ones doing the work. They’re the ones choosing to live, choosing to keep going, choosing to become the strongest version of themselves.
Working on the frontline means I meet people when they’re at their lowest, people who’ve been told “no” so many times they stop expecting anything different. And then one honest connection, one moment of being properly heard, can shift everything. You see hope come back. You see them want to live, to start to believe in themselves again. That tiny glimpse of light shine through.
Seeing someone come out the other side is what fills my soul. Especially because in my own struggles, I didn’t have a voice. I didn’t have someone advocating for me, I didn’t share my struggles.
Now lending my voice to others is my purpose. It’s the part of this work that grounds me the most.
I’m not here to fix or rescue anyone. I’m here to stand beside them while they reconnect with their own capacity to live, to choose, to hope. Watching someone go from barely holding on to wanting to live and feeling a glimpse of joy again is what stays with me. That’s why I keep speaking up.
Additional information
This charity was once just an idea, a dream and today it stands because of those who believed in me and my work.
I am honoured and grateful to work alongside our dedicated board — Karen, Jennifer, Maxy, Chris, and Anthea — and especially grateful for two remarkable volunteers, Jodie Anderson and Corinne Walsh.
When Jodie approached me in October, offering her skills, energy, and heart, everything shifted. She and Corinne have been the driving force behind turning a long‑held dream into a registered charity.
With Volunteer Week approaching, it feels important to acknowledge we would not be here without our volunteers or our board.
As we continue to grow, we are welcoming new volunteers to join us. Whether you have lived experience and feel called to become a Peer Ally, or you’re a professional able to offer pro bono support in website design, content creation, social media, fundraising, accountancy, or related fields, we offer full training, mentoring, and a place to belong.
If you’re passionate about community, mental health and ready to help shape something meaningful, we’d love to hear from you.
Please email thekerrygleeosncentre@gmail.com
To learn more about Kerry’s work, please visit: www.theadvocatekerry.org
Kerry with Jodie Anderson and Corinne Walsh. Photo: Michael Mannington OAM
What are your favourite places in Pittwater and why?
My favourite places in Pittwater are the quiet spots the ocean, sand and nature, anywhere I can breathe and reset. I spend so much time holding space for others that being near the water is where I ground myself. It’s where I can think clearly, reflect, and come back to myself before stepping back into my work. My ultimate favourite thing to do is go out dancing with my close friends that hold space for me and make me feel safe.
What is your ‘motto for life’ or a favourite phrase you try to live by?
My Motto that I go by is – Moment by moment – we can get through our darkest days when we stay in the moment and not get in the overwhelm of the tomorrows. My purpose is to stand beside people the way I needed someone to stand beside me. To empower people to want to live, to want to be here, to see themselves as worth fighting for. That’s what I come back to every day.
The logo - the painting in the picture - was created and painted for my the charity by my very dear friend Jennifer Hill, (artist) who passed away in July 2024 - her legacy was to have some her healing art in my centre.
The unalome, our logo, represents the path we all walk through life. It begins with a spiral with the moments that can sometimes feel messy, uncertain, or overwhelming. The moments we do not always talk about and sometimes carry quietly.
As the spiral rises, it moves through gentle twists and turns, symbolising the challenges, lessons, and growth experiences that shape who we become.
When the line begins to straighten, it reflects clarity, grounding, and coming home to yourself. The small point at the top is the moment of steadiness not perfection, but a return to our authentic selves.
For us at TKGC, the unalome is a reminder that healing isn’t linear, and it isn’t something you have to do alone. We walk with you through the spiral, through the mess, through the rise until hope feels possible again.
