My Forever Home

My name is Tony and I’m 63 years of age. I was born and raised in Sydney, NSW and attended Granville Patrician Brothers School, now known as Delaney College. When I �nished my schooling, I started work as a storeman and packer and held the same position with the same company until 1980. Sadly, the wool stores closed down and all employees lost their jobs. I went to Brisbane to seek employment and was fortunate to be able to work for a few commercial cleaning companies. My last job was cleaning the big SunCorp building. In 1992–1993 I came to Adelaide to settle and lived in a Housing Trust unit at Novar Gardens. I applied for several jobs but was always unsuccessful. On 31 August 1999, Centrelink granted me a Disability Support Pension as I’d been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

I then moved to Tasmania, �rstly to Launceston where I lived for about 18 months and then to Devonport.

TheSaint

St Vincent de Paul Society (SA) Newsletter

Issue 23Autumn 2014

I lived on King Island for about 2 years before �nally moving to Wynyard. It was in Wynyard where I most enjoyed my hobby of �shing and I’m proud to state that to this day, I still hold the Wynyard record for catching an Ocean Trout — 13 lbs 5 oz.

Leaving Tasmania on 27 June 2013 to resettle in Adelaide (as I had lived there before and had fond memories of the city). I arrived on 29 June 2013 at 7:30am on the bus and went straight to the Vincentian Centre. In my earlier days I had assisted the Salvation Army as a volunteer truck driver and therefore knew where Vinnies and the Vincentian Centre were. A�er a short interview with a sta� member I was welcomed into the Vincentian Centre. Had I stayed in Tasmania I would have died as I wouldn’t have survived the following winter on my own.

I was fortunate to be allocated a private single room. My �rst impression of it was that it was a nice room, although a little on the small side.

However being safe, clean, warm and fed,I couldn’t have asked any more of the accommodation. The bed, mattress and all linen were clean and the whole room made me feel secure, protected, valued and respected. It was as though all the worries in the world had been li�ed.

I was encouraged to make contact with Hutt Street Transition Workers so that they may be able to assist me with �nding longer term accommodation. Whilst staying at the Vincentian Centre I completed an assessment and interview at Unity Housing for placement in one of their inner city Boarding Houses.

When it became apparent that a vacancy in one of their Boarding Houses was unlikely to occur within the immediate future, the Director of the Vincentian Centre, Mike Wockel, o�ered me the opportunity to move into Vincent House. I was very excited and thought that if the Vincentian Centre was managed that well, then Vincent House would also be. When Mike showed me the house and then my room, I felt deeply appreciative of the standard of the accommodation o�ered and overwhelmed by the feeling of

“a home” and immediately agreed to move in at the �rst opportunity. I was lucky to move into Vincent House on 7 August 2013.I contribute to the regular cleaning duties and other things that need to be done to keep the house neat and tidy and create a real sense of home for myself and the other two men (also from the Vincentian Centre) who live there.

I do my own cooking, however we cook communal meals at times, and in particular, we all enjoy our Sunday roast nights.

Continued Over

Tony re�ecting on his stay at the Vincentian Centre

Sowers of Small Seeds

At Vinnies we “aspire to live the gospel message by serving Christ in the poor with love, respect, justice,

hope and joy”. Whilst these words come from our Mission Statement, it is the day-to-day living out of this ethos by our members, volunteers, sta� and supporters that makes a di�erence to the lives of the people we assist.

Re�ecting on the gospel message recently, I was drawn to the following passage —

“The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

— Mark 4:31–32.

This description gives us an understanding that even the smallest of beginnings can still have high potential. We are the sowers of small seeds through our day-to-day activities with people who need our assistance. Our actions and good works programs based on love, respect, hope and joy will bear fruit in the long run. People we have helped — people struggling with substance abuse, homelessness, unable to make ends meet or hold their family together, con�rm that what we do and how we do it, does make a di�erence in their lives.

I was once selling badges at a shopping centre and a man came up and made a sizeable donation. As I was thanking him, he shared his story with me. He told me of the time when he was living on the streets and how Vinnies had assisted him. He was provided with a bed at the Vincentian Centre (Vinnies’ homeless men’s accommo-dation service in Adelaide) and was helped to �nd more permanent accommodation. Fred’s Van was some-where he could go to get a warm, nutritious meal and �nd companionship. He eventually was able to �nd work and get a place of his own. Now running his own business he has never forgotten the assistance he received from Vinnies and how we were there for him, not judging but treating him with dignity and respect. Hearing his story made me realise that o�en we don’t realise how much of an impact our simple actions of support can have.

St Vincent de Paul Society (SA) Newsletter

Issue 23Autumn 2014

My Forever Home (continued)

I still work with the Hutt Street Social Workers and look forward to Mike’s regular visits. I know Mike is straight up and helps me if he can. My plan is to move into a Housing SA property, such as a cottage �at, where I can live peacefully and securely for as long as I want.

My bipolar diagnosis means that I take regular medication (20 tablets a day) and over the years I am proud to say that I have never missed taking my medication. To have a place of my own feels really, really good. I really like it because you are in charge of you. And if you mess up you’ve only got one person to blame, you.

—Tony

Director’s follow upI am delighted to inform that with advocacy and help from Hutt Street Workers, we have been able to secure a rental unit for Tony in the southern suburbs. Tony inspected the premises and could not wait to tell me that it is only 350 metres to the jetty and a shopping centre is only 400 metres away from his new home. He has now moved into his unit and plans to go �shing very soon. Tony has maintained contact with me and one of his fellow tenants at Vincent House. They meet regularly for lunch and it is hoped that his friend will also bene�t from our endeavours to secure him a place of his own.

It has been an absolute delight to work with Tony during his stay with us. Tony has been very focussed on his needs and desires and pursued opportunities from every angle. His commitment to working with Vinnies and Hutt Street has resulted in a home of his own.

Mike WockelDirector, Homeless Persons Accommodation Services

Tony’s story can also be heard on — http://insideadelaide.com.au/article/vincen-tian-centre-�nding-tonys-forever-home/

Hearing stories from people we assisted is what drives me to continue our good works. Sowing the small seeds, in the hope that one day they will grow into large �ourishing bushes in the future. Through involvement in Vinnies, we all receive so much. The opportunity to share with people from di�erent backgrounds, the friendships we develop and the satisfaction of knowing that what we do can make a real di�erence in people’s lives. I hope the following articles in this issue of The Saint give you an insight into some of the di�erences we have made in people’s lives, and remember that as we go about our work day by day, take satisfaction from the fact that God has chosen to work through us, not by us going about preaching, but by us living out His word through caring actions and assisting where we can.

Brian SpencerState President

“The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

—Mark 4: 31-32.

This is my Story

My name is Awan and this is my story.

It was 2005 when I �rst came to Australia. Initially I worked two jobs to support my family back in Nairobi and in 2008 I was unfortunately le� with 3 young children to take care of on my own back in my home country. In 2009 through the support of legal agencies I was able to bring all 3 children out to Adelaide with me to live. On arriving back in Adelaide I met with the Frederic Ozanam Housing Association*to begin the process of �nding a suitable home for my children and me.

I was fortunate to be able to get my two brothers’ children who are under my care into St Ignatius College, a school with the values that I wanted to have instilled in them. Unfortunately where we were living at this time meant that I had to wake them at 5am to catch the bus to ensure they arrived at school on time. I would also take my youngest son on the bus to day-care, where I would drop him o� then travel to university to study.

I will not lie, our days were long and at times very hard but we were all determined to make it work.

The Frederic Ozanam Housing Association was able to �nd us a home close to the school where my children attended. This did mean that I had a longer bus journey to university, but it was better for me to have a hard time rather than the children.

Looking a�er children is stressful enough. When you are doing it on your own, and worrying if the landlord will kick you out because they want to sell the house, only adds to the stress and worry. I am very grateful to Vinnies and the Frederic Ozanam Housing Association for �nding my family a home. Having a home of our own has meant that I have been able to �nish three diplomas and I am currently studying a double degree at university. All this studying will hopefully help to open up work opportunities for me in the future. I also look forward to continuing to give back to my community, where I am currently a Community Leader. I got where I am today not because I am smart, but because I got the help that I did. It allowed me to focus on my family and study and to rebuild our lives in Adelaide.

* Frederic Ozanam Housing Association is a division of Vinnies and provides long-term housing for low income tenants including the aged, refugees, singles, single parent families, people with a disability and low income workers.

Riders again turned out in their thousands to support the Motorcycle Riders’ Association’s annual Toy Run on December 8.

Toy Run

Even the gusty weather and threat of rain did not dampen riders’ spirits who were there to partake in the ride from Victoria Park, Adelaide, up the South Eastern Freeway to Callington.

Once there, they handed over to grateful Vinnies volunteers in excess of 3,500 toys destined for children from disadvantaged families who otherwise would not receive a gi� from under their tree at Christmas.

Banquet Fit for Kings and Queens

Fred’s Van Christmas Show at Ferryden Park was a complete surprise to this service’s regular patrons, with many brought to tears when they realised what was ahead for them.

The event was hosted by the National Wine Centre (a corporate sponsor of Fred’s Van). As well as hosting the event and providing a four course banquet for each Fred’s Van patron, the National Wine Centre provided and decorated the venue with dressed chairs, table cloths, centre pieces, Christmas bon bons and festive streamers.

The National Wine Centre provided �ve chefs (including Executive Chef Philip Pope), wait sta� (comprising members of the reception and marketing teams), and music. All Fred’s Van patrons were given a Christmas hamper to take home with them, also supplied by the National Wine Centre. An extra special treat for the 50 children attending that night was when Father Christmas visited to hand out gi�s especially for them.

Even though it was a very warm evening (the mercury topped 43 degrees that day) in a building with limited cooling, nothing could stop the magic from happening that night.

Joy of Community

Christmas is a special time of year; a time to re�ect on the year that was, a time to be with loved ones and a time to cherish what we hold dear to us.

Residents of the Vincentian Centre, an accommodation service for men experi-encing homelessness based in the CBD of Adelaide, were once again treated to the angelic voices of the Mary MacKillop College Choir at the annual Christmas carols evening.

This special night is a wonderful occasion for all the residents, volunteers, sta� and State Council members to come together and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Many of the men who stay at the Vincentian Centre have no other family, so to be able to share this time of year with others is deeply cherished by them.

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”

— Calvin CoolidgeYear eleven and twelve students from Mary MacKillop College choir sang a range of well known and loved Christmas carols that had all attending singing along. This was followed by a superb bu�et dinner generously supplied by the Vincentian Centre.

Congratulations to Mike Wockel, Director of the Homeless Persons Accommodation Service, Vincentian Centre sta� and volun-teers for putting on an evening of carols that was once again a wonderful expression of joy and community for all who attended.

Festively dressed tables were one surprise that awaited patrons of the Ferryden Park Fred’s Van

The Vincentian Alliance today is a living example of Frederic Ozanam’s vision and foundation dating back to 1833 in seeking guidance and counsel from Rosalie Rendu, a Daughter of Charity. Today, the Daughters of Charity operate the Hutt Street Centre which is at the forefront of innovative service delivery to homeless and margin-alised people. The St Vincent de Paul Society operates the Vincentian Centre in Whitmore Square and has been providing crisis accommodation for Adelaide’s homeless men since 1961.

Frederic Ozanam Housing provides longer term safe and a�ordable housing to vulnerable members of the community. The above serves as an illustration for potential pathways from rough sleeping, to crisis accommodation and long term accommodation utilizing the resources and assets of the three partner organisations.

Along the journey, the St Vincent de Paul Society (SA) and Hutt Street are able to provide some training and development opportunities that maximize the potential for clients to break the cycle of homeless-ness and have a positive life impact.

The Vincentian Alliance was formally established in May 2011 and launched by Monsignor David Cappo AO at a function in Whitmore Square.

Clothing and accessories that are not quite up to the high quality expected in our stores are sold to an exporter, who transports them to a number of overseas destinations. Locations include South-East Asia, Paci�c Islands, Poland and Africa.

Torn, damaged, stained or dirty items are disposed of as waste. Unfortunately, we do receive a lot of unusable items and this year the Society will spend $120,000 disposing of unwanted goods.

We also recycle as much as possible including metal, plastic bags, paper, cardboard and even mattresses.

What Happens to Your Donations?

Have you ever wondered what happens to your clothing and other donations a�er you generously place them in a big blue Vinnies ‘donation bank’ located at many sites across the state?

Each donation bank in metropolitan Adelaide is emptied on a regular basis and contents are transported to our warehouse in Wing�eld for sorting. Each item is examined for suitability and sorted into categories; shop quality, B–grade quality or unusable.

We are proud of the high quality of items for sale in our Vinnies shops which means that the vast majority of items for sale are in ‘as new’ condition. Items are prepared for distribution, then transported to our metropolitan stores where they are either provided free of charge to people doing it tough (via the work of our conferences) or sold. Items are cleaned, ironed or steamed as necessary, then priced and displayed in the shop by our invaluable volunteers.

Vincentian Alliance

At a signing ceremony on Monday 3 March 2014, the Memorandum of Understanding for the continuation of the Vincentian Alliance was celebrated.

Brian Spencer, St Vincent de Paul Society’s State President, welcomed those present which included Scott Connel, Deputy Chair of Hutt Street Centre; Ian Cox, CEO of Hutt Street Centre; Damian Young, Chair of

the Homeless Persons Accommodation Services Committee, representatives from Frederic Ozanam Housing Association and other invited guests. The Vincentian Alliance continues its established frame-work of co-operation for all involved to bene�t our respective clients by contrib-uting knowledge and resources to achieve better outcomes.

Certain types of unsaleable materials are sorted separately and sent to Barkuma Inc. to recycle and package as industrial rags which Vinnies sells under the ‘Adelaide Rags’ name.

In regional and country areas, volunteers will empty donation banks and transport the contents to their local shop for processing using the same criteria as the Adelaide warehouse.

Each year across the State, approximately 1,500 tonnes of materials are donated (not including furniture). 15% ends up in a Vinnies store to be sold, 15% is disposed of as waste and the remaining 70% is sold for export.

So the next time you place a good clean donation in a blue donation bank, you will know that whatever it is, it will end up bene�tting the good works of the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Attendees included (L to R) Damian Young, Brian Spencer, Scott Connel

Visit Victor — Visit Vinnies

December saw the newest Vinnies shop open at Victor Harbor and it has been an overwhelming success ever since!

When the doors opened at 9:30am on its �rst day, the crowd who were eagerly waiting outside streamed in, keen to immediately start shopping. Vinnies CEO David Wark and State President Brian Spencer, who were there to greet local residents and thank them for their support, at one point counted nearly 50 people in the shop, all happily searching for bargains.

Congratulations and a heartfelt thank you to the large team of supporters and volunteers who worked tirelessly for many weeks to make this newest store possible.

St Vincent de Paul Society (SA) Newsletter

Issue 23Autumn 2014

Stay in touch

If you would like to keep up to date more regularly, you can also �nd us under VinniesSA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube.

* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our clients

Volunteers Recognised

The St Vincent de Paul Society is very grateful to receive the level of volunteer support from the South Australian public that it does. Without dedicated volunteers, we would not be able to assist the number of people we do each year.

We are very pleased that the following people have been acknowledged for their dedication and commitment to helping others.

— Mr Desmond Parker Medal of the Order of Australia

— Mr Arnold Saint Member of the Order of Australia

— Mrs Elizabeth Mazzei Member of the Order of Australia

— Miss Monica Schneider Nominee for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to the community of South Australia

— Mr Anthony Louis Nominee for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to the community of South Australia

— Mrs Gloria Louis Nominee for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to the community of South Australia

— Ms Elina King Medal for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to the community of South Australia

— Mr Ernest Simpson Medal for the Archbishop’s Award for service to parish life

— Mrs Carmel Kay Nominated for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to parish life

— Mr Timothy Davey Medal for the Archbishop’s Award for Service to the education of young South Australians

— Mr Bill Cull Corcoran Ward recipient of the Australia Day Citizen of the Year Award for community work

Coming Events for 2014

Winter AppealThe Society’s annual Winter Appeal will commence in May.

130 Years CelebrationTo commemorate the Society being in South Australia for 130 years, a celebratory Mass will be held at St Francis Xavier Cathedral on 11 May. All are welcome.

CEO SleepoutThe 5th annual CEO Sleepout will be held on 19 June at Government House.

To �nd out more visit — www.ceosleepout.org.au

For further details on any of these events visit www.vinnies.org.au or call (08) 8112 8700.

people’s choice Community Lottery

Last year thanks to your support we raised almost $13,000 from ticket sales in the people’s choice Community Lottery.

We need your help to again either purchase or sell tickets for this year’s Lottery. Running from 1 March till 31 July 2014, the Lottery has total prizes valued at over $300,000! All proceeds from tickets sold go directly to Vinnies (SA) to assist us in continuing to provide much needed food, shelter, comfort and hope via our good works programs to people doing it tough in our community.

To purchase tickets or books, or if you would like to sell tickets contact Kristi Hermsen at Vinnies.

Post — PO Box 1804, Adelaide, SA 5001Email — khermsen@svpdsa.org.auPh — (08) 8112 8714