By Tanya Steele
Mother’s Day is just a little bit more special this year for Mums of the Hills (MotHs) as the not-for-profit group hit a massive milestone of community connection on 11 May.
As the traditions of burnt toast, smiles, cuddles, and hopefully a sleep-in play out across the Yarra Ranges, a grassroots online community is celebrating ten years of local impact.
Star Mail journalist Tanya Steele interviewed MotHs President, Belinda Young, about the inspiration behind the creation of the Facebook group that has been providing steady support to families all over the hills for a decade.
“MotHs is about community,” she said.
“Living in the hills means leaning on each other—dropping off meals, checking in when someone’s quiet, showing up when it matters.”
“A Mum of the Hills looks out for others, and knows someone will do the same for her.”
The Facebook group has helped mothers connect online and face-to-face in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, and with over 5,000 members, shows no signs of slowing down.
Ms Young said initially her drive to create the online community came from a need to find out about local events on the ground.
“Like who people recommended for a haircut or where to take the kids on a rainy day,” she said.
“But deep down, I was really craving that small-town feeling—being able to walk down the main street and run into someone I knew.”
Ms Young said she had begun to miss the sense of belonging that comes from small-town living, and after an accident at home while she was looking after two small kids, the drive to connect became real.
“The real push came after I fell off a ladder while painting a wall at home,” she said.
“The kids were little—just two and four—and even though I was lucky not to be badly hurt, I remember sitting there thinking, ‘Who would I even call right now?”
“I didn’t want other mums to feel that isolated —so I decided to start something that could help bring us all together.”
Not without its challenges, MotHs began small, and Ms Young said that building trust was the hardest part.
“Getting people to open up, ask questions, and feel safe enough to answer them,” she said.
“I had to go first, sharing my own experiences, not knowing if anyone would respond.”
Extending the group into real-life connections in person was also challenging, and Ms Young said that it required persistence.
“I once booked a table for ten mums at Sooki Lounge – ten had confirmed,” she said.
“I sat there smiling at the waitstaff, saying, ‘They’ll be here soon…’ But no one showed up – I felt humiliated.”
“But I also knew I couldn’t give up—it just meant I had to try a different way to connect.”
Over the years, the group has forged bonds through its online sharing and resources both openly and quietly, and Ms Young said there have been many funny, touching and unexpected moments within the community.
“This group has seen it all—laugh-out-loud moments, quiet heartbreaks, and incredible acts of solidarity,” she said.
“There was the mum who bought g-strings for the first time since giving birth, saying it felt like paying respects to her post-labour vagina.”
“Or the one who stepped on a piece of rusted wire in her thongs before the school run, limped bleeding across her cream carpet, only to be met with ‘Mum, I’m hungry’ and ‘I did a poo.”
Over the years, Ms Young said there have been moments that really stick with her.
“There was a mum who shared her story of multiple miscarriages, IVF, and finally carrying her second baby,” she said.
“Her honesty gave so many others the courage to speak about their grief.”
Being a parent is not easy, and in the hills, it can hit different notes as families face regular challenges with power outages, floods and tree falls happening regularly.
In 2016, the MotHs rallied behind a local family after a gumtree crashed through a local family’s home, and it set the tone for the group onwards.
Ms Young said that to her, being a ‘Mum of the Hills’ means being resourceful, resilient, and quietly tough.
“It’s whipping up a last-minute Book Week costume, running the soccer canteen, or chainsawing a tree off the driveway during the school run,” she said.
‘It’s heading into work in the city looking like everyone else—except you’ve just survived 21 days without power and your colleagues are saying, “‘How about that wind?’ completely unaware of the devastation your neighbourhood is in.”
On top of their online group, MoThs regularly support and promote community events in the Yarra Ranges, from breastfeeding help to chainsaw workshops and have branch-out groups devoted to the individual needs of their MotHs community.
“We’ve laughed together, cried together, and—when it mattered most—turned up for one another,” said Ms Young.
“That’s what makes this space so special.”
Soon, the group will be celebrated in a Masquerade Ball event hosted y the Monbulk Community Group to be held in Monbulk on 24 May, with a donation pledged to them.
“We are very honoured,” said Ms Young.
