Anti-Poverty Week My Arse

From Diane’s blog:

Alright so, anger and sadness have filled my thoughts for the last couple of days as I had big plans for this week. Anti-poverty Week was suppose to be a time where people bridge the gap, get to know and maybe make a difference in the lives of some people in poverty. There is this carpark ramp at the back of my work, where some people have made their home. During the day their belongings are neatly stored in the cable trays that hang under the concrete slab above, no one would know during the day that anyone called this home. I work long hours and this is how my friends and I met. My plan this week was to make sure that each night there was dinner, or some new blankets, or even something like some flowers. I even thought of doing a painting. Alas … my plans have changed. Monday morning, bright and fresh I strolled down the alley to find a dirty great big roller door stuck on the outside of the building…

Read the full post for the whole story…

Vicmanian’s @ SOD

Hi guys, I thought we could see who is coming up to SOD from Vicmania. Maybe think about travel buddies

I know the brunswick UCA mob is thinking about a bus/ car pool road trip thing.

James is the contact person.

Fantastically we have lots traveling up.

and it goes a little something like this…..

[Read more]

Sunshine Mission

Sunshine Mission - a place for building community, sharing experiences, and nurturing our humanity.

About a month ago I went to a Sunshine Mission and joined in their shared lunch. I met with Celia Martin who is the Director and Rev Graham Morris the Minister plus Noel and a few other members of the community. We sat and talked about the struggle to be an inclusive community, liberation theology and belonging. The mission tries to walk the line of including and empowering those who come in times of need while still being an agency and still being a community. A struggle the UCA has in many agencies and congregations. Agencies provide services like legal support, food vouchers/ parcels, clothing, counselling etc. While communities care for their neighbours. At Sunshine some clients are volunteers, some church members are clients and some volunteers are church members. It is a fantastic mesh of people together caring and helping others. I said struggle as you can imagine it is hard to go from viewing a person as college to client to neighbour. But this is exactly the struggle that must take place when you take the radical way of Jesus. Regularly failing to be that community is guaranteed, but the times it works I think we see part of the Kingdom. It was a privilege to visit and share lunch with this community.

Here is a glimpse of what is there if you would like to visit or maybe you could do a placement through uni with them.

Wayside Market (Opportunity Shop) - Find a treasure or donate one Devonshire House tea room - Yum
Casework Material Aid Community building & Network service An example would be the Men’s Shed is a ‘meeting place for men who are disadvantaged in various ways who by working together can improve their wellbeing and social connectedness in today’s society’ ‘ a place where men can talk, yarn, laugh, learn new skills and where mutual respect is understood.’

You can help by visiting, tax-deductible donation, give quality used clothing, furniture, books, or bric-a-brac, donate food to the food bank, volunteer, receive their newsletter - Outlook or maybe do some fundraising for their work.

sunshine.mission@sunshine.unitingcare.org.au

Singing Down the Wire

Every week people gather to protest our government policies about asylum seekers in a creative and non-violent way, through song. It’s great to see the arts in action and people of faith standing with those on the margins of our society. Good stuff.

"’Singing down the wire’ is a regular protest activity for those yearning for a creative way of expressing solidarity with asylum seekers in our community. Each Tuesday from 5.30 - 6.30pm we meet at a previously designated location to sing songs of freedom, hope and peace. Many of the songs come from the homelands of those seeking asylum. Singers pledge to meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly as individual circumstances dictate."

If you would like more info:
          http://cecm.victas.uca.org.au/index.cgi?tid=265