Download the Club Bulletin for meeting 976 here.
From President Kirsty Stark:
Unfortunately, our guest speaker George Mappas from the Battery Co. was unable to make it to our meeting on Tuesday morning, but we hope to reschedule him for another date.
In lieu of George, we heard from Ian Coat with an update on his recent meeting with Tracy Johnstone at Campbelltown Council re the possibilities of working with other local services to assist the homeless in our council area.
Here are a few of Ian’s notes from the meeting:
Is there a homelessness problem in the area?
There are not a lot of people overtly sleeping rough in the area. Those who are sleeping rough from the eastern suburbs tend to gravitate to the city because that’s where the services are to support them – food, shelter, mental health and importantly financial services.
There is however a significant number of young people and women with families who are couch surfing in the area. The Service to Youth Council (SYC) provides some services in the area through their Eastern Case Manager.
What support is already being supplied?
St Martins Church (cnr Gorge and Lower NE Roads) puts together backpacks with basic hygiene and comfort items for homeless young people. These are supplied to SYC for distribution where required.
http://saintmartinscampbelltown.com/communityinvolvement/the-backpack-project
The Salvation Army in Norwood offers some services into the eastern suburbs.
The State Government has significant effort trying to deal with homelessness. The Homelessness Gateway shows many services that are available.
There is also a formal State government roadmap document that puts some of this into perspective.
The primary service provider is United Communities. United Care Wesley Bowden provides financial counselling to those in the Campbelltown area who require it. Baptist Care also provide a range of services including youth homeless service in South Australia. Baptist Care undertake family counselling for victims of domestic violence.
http://www.baptistcaresa.org.au
There is a Women’s shelter in Campbelltown which plans to establish an education centre. This is the Central Domestic Violence Service Inc (Eastern Region).
Thanks Ian, for all of your hard work!
Weekly Challenge: Facebook Like for Magill Sunrise
Occasionally I’ll be setting a weekly challenge for all members to help us further club goals. Our weekly challenge for this week is to invite friends to like our club Facebook page, so if you haven’t already done so, please do! I emailed an instruction sheet earlier in the week and is an attachment with this Bulletin.
As of Thursday, our current tally is 320 likes, with 27 new fans since our meeting, so thanks to everyone who has made an effort. Let’s try and get to 350 by next Tuesday!
Bon Voyage, Mina!
It was Past President Mina’s final meeting before flying off to the UK and the challenge of swimming the English Channel (maybe now it’s the French Channel). We had an emotional farewell and a chance to say Thank You and Bon Voyage. Finally, thank you again Mina for the fantastic gift of the new President’s Hat – I’ll wear it with pride! All the best for your travels, and especially your Channel swim!