March 2014 Newsletter - Sacred Heart Mission

heartbeat
newsletter
March 2014
inTroducing
our new logo
Last year, we were fortunate
to be given the opportunity
to undertake a brand identity
review with our pro bono
design agency Canyon.
This involved pausing to
think about our brand.
To fully represent and capture
our brand values and attributes,
reflecting who we are today
and where we want to be in the
future, a new logo was created.
It highlights our uniqueness,
communicates our values
whilst retaining our origins
with the cross and the heart.
The rollout of the new logo
has commenced and will take
place over the coming months.
We have prioritised the high
visibility areas where the
logo appears, including the
main Mission buildings,
op shops, vehicle signage,
our website and social media
plus our internal documents
and templates. So as not to
waste resources, we will
only update printed materials
when doing new print runs on
brochures and other paper
based materials.
The joys of cooking
(and eaTing)
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1&2. Queens Road residents Eleanor and Sean attend the weekly
Hot Dish cooking class where everyone sits together to enjoy
a meal at the end.
3.
The flourishing veggie garden at our Queens Road
rooming house is harvested each Friday for the BBQ.
Thanks to a City of Port Phillip
grant, an extra special new BBQ
now lives in the back garden of
our Queens Road rooming house
which residents are welcome to
use. The idea behind applying
for the grant was to promote
independent eating. The BBQ is
also being used for the Friday
night community dinners. The
residents harvest the veggie
garden during the day so that the
fresh veggies and herbs can be
used to make salads.
Some residents have been
attending weekly cooking classes,
aimed at promoting interaction
and cooking skills in the rooming
house community, that are offered
by the Hot Dish catering company
in Parkville.
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You probably noticed that at the end
of last year, you received a lot more
mail from us than usual. This was due
to a service provider error. We wish to
apologise and reassure you that we’ve
taken steps to rectify this problem, and
the service provider picked up the cost
of the extra mailouts.
regular giving
– help secure The
Mission’s fuTure
As the Mission looks forward we need
to look for opportunities to increase our
financial sustainability. Workplace giving is
one of the most effective ways to support
the Mission’s work now and in the future.
This program enables employees to make
regular contributions from pre-tax salary,
avoiding the need to find receipts at tax
time. By encouraging workplace giving
in your organisation, you make a direct
impact on the lives of people in your
community while also building a strong
sense of community in the workplace.
To learn more you can contact the
Sacred Heart Mission Fundraising
and Communications Team
on 1800 443 278 or email
rpetchesky@sacredheartmission.org.
ediTorial
deTails:
If you have any feedback about this
newsletter or story ideas, please contact:
Marika Fengler
Communications Coordinator
03 9536 8498
mfengler@sacredheartmission.org
The True Magic of
a coMMuniTy organisaTion
Over the summer, things have been
busy at Sacred Heart Mission as the
issues of homelessness, disadvantage
and social exclusion are forever
present in our community.
We have spent much of the last few
months working on our strategic plan for
the next 10 years and thinking about how
our services come together to address the
underlying causes of deep, persistent
disadvantage and social exclusion.
We have been helped by business, the
community sector, major donors, staff and
volunteers to understand how our service
is unique and to receive feedback on
going forward with the plan. We have
also examined the impact of the
government’s social policy reform
agenda to understand how that may
affect our service delivery. It is clear that
we need to be able to articulate how the
Mission’s services come together to help
the community and we are progressing
well with this.
We have also been focused on
fundraising for the services we have
that are run through the generosity of the
community rather than being funded by
government. Our Meals Program, Hands
on Health Clinic, Women’s House and
Sports and Recreation are all essential
in delivering outcomes for people who
come to the Mission seeking a more stable
existence. Our Gift that Counts Christmas
appeal raised more than $243,000 which
is a truly tremendous effort and we thank
everyone who contributed.
It is during Christmas that we see the
true magic of a community organisation
like Sacred Heart Mission come to life.
We provided almost 300
lunches on Christmas Day,
using food that was 100 per
cent donated and was served
by 38 people who volunteered
their time.
Two-thirds of this was through Cabrini’s
generous purchase of raw ingredients
on our behalf. The remainder of the meal
was donated by manufacturers, corporate
groups, individuals and local businesses.
Everyone who came to lunch received a
gift, also donated by Cabrini. You can read
about the highlights on pages 3 and 4.
During the recent heatwaves, our
Home Care team went over and above
to ensure the safety of those who are
most vulnerable during the heat. Of the
75 people who they support to remain
in their own homes, 17 were assessed
as being very high risk in heatwaves.
This assessment is based on their lack
of support networks, living conditions
and health.
Many live in little bedsits
or small apartments without
air conditioning that can reach
the same temperature of the
inside of a car.
While some escape the heat by going
to the casino or other air conditioned
public places, they have to go home
at some stage.
On the extreme weather days, Home
Care staff transported some of their most
vulnerable clients to our aged care facility
so they could spend the day in a cool
environment. Extra staff members were
put on to do ring arounds to check on
people’s safety, that they were drinking
sufficient fluids and were looking after
themselves. Following the creative idea of
one staff member, hotels were contacted
to see if they could donate vacant rooms
for an emergency relocation. Six clients
stayed at the St Kilda Novotel and one at
the Pullman in Albert Park. The following
weekend, the Novotel and Ibis hotels in
Glen Waverly (while St Kilda Festival was
on) generously accommodated four
Home Care clients between them.
There is something special here – we have
all parts of our community coming together
to address the issues of disadvantage and
social exclusion. Call it Mission Magic,
grass roots movement or social justice,
whatever it is, may it continue
throughout 2014.
Catherine Harris
Acting CEO
young enTrepreneur
is a budding
philanThropisT
This is maybe one of the cutest things
we’ve seen in awhile. Six year old Sam,
who lives in the area, came up with the
initiative of selling some spare cards that
he’d collected from the supermarket.
While he was staying down the coast
with his family on summer holiday he put
together a pop up stall in the street.
Sam’s cousin helped on one of the days
when he was selling the cards, raising a
total of $16.73. Our fundraising manager
Fiona gave Sam and his mum a personal
tour of the dining hall and told them that
his fundraising has paid for four and
a bit meals. What a champ!
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chrisTMas is noT as Much abouT opening
our presenTs as opening our hearTs
1. Preparation for Christmas at the Mission
began as early as July when the phone calls
started to trickle in from people enquiring
about volunteering. Months of organising,
communication, goodwill and spirit went
into making the day a special one for the
300 people who came to enjoy the
beautiful Christmas lunch.
Thanks To
everyone who
gave a ‘gifT ThaT
counTs’ This
chrisTMas
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2. Restaurateur members of the Victorian Thai
Community Association cooked up a storm
in our kitchen to give our chefs a break on
Boxing Day. They made delicious fried rice
and noodles in honour of the birthday of the
Thai King.
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3. Every year the Cabrini community of nurses,
doctors, other staff, patients and their families
donates hundreds of presents for our Santa to
hand out after lunch: 450 were supplied last
year. Cabrini also provided meat, veg, dessert
and accompaniments for the Christmas meal.
Their support extends throughout the year
to include buying other food for our Meals
Program, staff volunteering in the dining hall
and a linen service is provided to our facilities
which results in huge savings for us.
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We are delighted to report that
our Christmas appeal ‘A Gift
That Counts’ achieved our best
ever results for that period,
raising a whopping $243,302.30
(which included donations for
baubles at our op shops).
To give you an idea, the funds
raised can cover all of the following;
• weekend breakfasts in our
dining hall for the year
• meat or fish for six months
• everyone’s lunch for a week
• the dining hall chefs for 328 days
• and this year’s Christmas lunch
Pictured here are Kate Barker who manages
Cabrini’s social outreach program and Graduate
Year Coordinator Yvette Gomez, together with
Marika Fengler from our fundraising team.
Many of you will be aware that we
took a broader approach for this
Christmas appeal. It was the first year
we created a theme, and as well as
doing our traditional letter to people on
our database, there was a whole bunch
of other activities designed to attract
new donors and raise the Mission’s
profile in the community.
4. Sasha Taranto and Demi Brereton from Star
of the Sea delivered a massage chair to our
Hands on Health Clinic on behalf of their fellow
students. The chair was purchased with funds
raised by running a cake stall and Demi’s effort
selling a magical ‘reindeer mix’ to entice Santa
over the holiday season. The chair will be of
great use for people who are ageing or have
mobility issues. The year 10s and 11s also
did a massive collection of individualised gifts
for women at the Women’s House and made
personalised cards for each gift.
We must say a big thanks to the
following: our volunteers who
helped with these activities including
letterbox drops, gift wrapping and tin
rattling; everyone who donated food
to our Meals Program, Star of the
Sea, Aquinas, Chisholm and Gamon,
South Melbourne Market, NAB, T2,
Ikea Richmond, Acland Court, Cabrini,
NAOT footwear, Pacific Brands, and
Roadhouse, Veg Out and Elwood
Farmer’s Market, Creative Sign Design,
and Ausign.
BTW – reindeer food is made up of sparkles
and oats. Sparkles attract the reindeers and
the oats are for them to eat.
In particular, we would like to
acknowledge our pro bono creative
agency Canyon who has done an
outstanding job and loads of work
in supporting us with this campaign.
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For making Christmas special, we must also thank...
Everyone who contributed to the Christmas lunch and gift collection, Acland Court,
Aquinas College, Canyon, Chisholm & Gamon, Ikea Richmond, NAB, NAOT footwear,
Pacific Brands, Roadhouse Digital, South Melbourne Market, Sylvia Paglia from
Diabetes Australia, T2, Veg Out market, and all the marvellous volunteers
who either rattled tins, or letterbox dropped on our behalf.
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welcoMing The
spiriT of digniTy
The lives of so many people coming
to our Mission are marked by many
overwhelming losses that have led them
into homelessness; the loss of early security
in life, the loss of mental wellbeing, the loss
of employment, and many other losses that
can traumatise and severely limit our lives.
The story of life being taken
from you can easily begin
to be played out over and over
again in a person’s heart with
one loss compounding another.
You are a victim and powerless.
Early in the New Year, I was sitting
sharing lunch with one of our regular
visitors to the Mission. He had just come
from a job interview which didn’t go as
well as he had expected. As I listened
to him, he shared not only his
disappointment but also his gratitude
for some pointers he received to
help him in the future.
He went on to share with me how, given
he wasn’t working, he couldn’t meet the
repayments for an old car he was hoping to
use to get to work. Too often, in his past, he
had felt the pain of having important things
at the time taken from him and feeling
a victim of his circumstances. This time,
he thought to himself, “I don’t want to live
waiting for someone to come and repossess
the car”. So he decided to go and surrender
the car. As he peacefully summed up the
experience for me: “Doing it, yes it was hard
but I felt so free I had retained my dignity.”
“... I was choosing and not
having life chosen for me.”
i wanT To supporT
sacred hearT Mission
March 2014
Title:
First Name:
Surname:
Address:
Suburb:
As staff, volunteers and all the specialist
support that comes to the Mission, we
work together to help people to make the
decisions, no matter how small, that help
them to receive that freeing spirit of their
dignity being restored. It may be in the
choosing to trust and talk a little bit more
with a worker, or beginning to take steps
to address an addiction. We want to help
people to discover that in the very losses
and vulnerabilities of their lives the
freeing spirit of their dignity is waiting
to be received.
Postcode:
Tel (Home/Work):
Mobile:
Email:
All donations of $2 and over are tax deductible
Monthly Giving
Thank you once again for all your
support and resources given to sustain
our Mission in its work (for the long haul)
of helping people act for the restoration of
their dignity. And maybe, it is in all our efforts
to support, that we all have our own dignity
of being fellow members of the human
family restored.
Fr John Petrulis
Parish Priest
I would like to donate: $
($10 min)
• Please charge my credit card as per details below
• Gift processed on 15th of each month.
Or
One off Gift
I would like to give a donation of
$35
$55
$100
$500
$
Please find enclosed my cheque
(made payable to Sacred Heart Mission)
Please charge my credit card
I simply affirmed his deeply insightful action
and we parted both all the richer for the
sharing of his wisdom.
Visa
Mastercard
AMEX
Cardholder’s Name:
our op shop
cusToMers buy
fesTive lunches
Sacred Heart Mission op shop
customers were encouraged to think
about all the meals that are dished up
over the festive period to people who
are homeless. Customers were asked to
donate $3.80 - the cost of a three course
lunch served in our dining hall - to put a
bauble on the Christmas trees displayed
in each of our seven op shops.
Expiry Date:
Cardholder’s Signature:
Please send me information on:
Remembering the Mission in my Will
1. Karen from our South Melbourne op shop
hangs wire Christmas trees from the ceiling.
South Melbourne customers hung a total of
1,263 baubles (or meals), filling 28 trees and
raising $4,799.40. Together with the regular
customers, employees from local businesses
and companies including Boeing, Channel 9’s
The Block and The Essential Ingredient got
behind the initiative by making significant
donations and some “buying” whole trees.
Volunteering at the Mission
Monthly Giving
Sacred Heart Mission follows the National Privacy Principles.
Be assured your details remain confidential and are not
supplied to other organisations.
Please tick here if you do not want further mail
from the Mission.
Please send to: Sacred Heart Mission,
87 Grey Street, St Kilda VIC 3182
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Donation Hotline: 1800 44 32 78
www.sacredheartmission.org
ABN 62 843 874 179
The Mission sTarTs The
journey To reconciliaTion
In the past, we’ve used our highly visible balcony space on
National Sorry Day to show our commitment towards reconciliation.
Last year the Mission formed a project
group to work on a Reconciliation Action
Plan (RAP) acknowledging the need
for the organisation to build stronger
relationships and trust with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders.
Data gathered by our client
service areas show that up
to 10 per cent of people
accessing our services
identify as Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander.
The organisation felt that it was important
to be culturally responsive to these people
and that to be as welcoming as possible,
we needed to take practical actions. To echo
the ethos of the RAP program: we needed
to turn our good intentions into real actions.
wiTh your supporT,
we can conTinue To assisT
over 600 people every day…
Overseeing the RAP journey, Manager of
Women’s Services, Leanne Lewis said
posters were displayed around the Mission
inviting participation from staff, volunteers
and people using our services, particularly
those who identified as Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander. “Together we worked
on a business plan focusing on the areas
of relationships, respect, and opportunities.
We made a decision that if an action could
be done during the planning process,
we’d do it!”
Highlights throughout the year included:
the donation of a piece of Aboriginal artwork
‘Women’s Work’ to our Women’s House;
introductions to members of the local
Aboriginal community; staff attending two
fully-booked out cultural awareness training
sessions at Aboriginal rehabilitation and
support centre Ngwala Willumbong;
a Welcome to Country and Smoking
Ceremony performed at our dining hall
reopening; and recently we were fortunate
in welcoming the participation of an
Aboriginal woman from our Client
Representative Group to the RAP
working group.
In December 2013, our RAP
was signed by our CEO Cathy
Humphrey and endorsed by
Reconciliation Australia.
Our name is now proudly listed on
Reconciliation Australia’s website
amongst the hundreds of organisations
that have a RAP in place which means
we are publicly accountable to carry out
the actions we’ve promised.
Leanne said that while it is early days for
the Mission, it feels like a real groundswell
is taking place. “The more organisations
that are thinking about being culturally
responsive and are setting targets and
goals, the better for the greater cause.
And it’s very exciting to be a part of
this journey to reconciliation.”
To find out more visit
www.reconciliation.org.au. You can
view Sacred Heart Mission’s RAP on the
Reconciliation Australia website. Go to
the ‘Who has a RAP?’ page and look
under ‘community organisations.’
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lighT up a life cockTail parTy
Thursday 20 March at Encore, St Kilda Sea Baths
This year we are giving a new lease of
life to our annual cocktail party. We’re
moving venue to Encore at the St Kilda Sea
Baths, Phil Ceberano will be entertaining
and treats will be served from Betsy the
caravan. As usual there will be loads of
great auction and raffle items.
So pop on your dancing shoes, round up
your girlfriends and bring a man if you’re
so inclined. This is a great event for
women, by women - but it is definitely
not a women’s only event!
Tickets are $120 and can be purchased
either through www.sacredheartmission.org
or by contacting Peter Mercer from our
fundraising team on 9534 7496 or email
pmercer@sacredheartmission.org.
RSVP by 14 March. Tickets are limited.
inTroducing a new evenT
To our calendar… dining wiTh hearT
Wednesday 28 May at the Palais Theatre, St Kilda
We’re really excited to be presenting
our new event, Dining with Heart,
which is inspired by the important role
food plays in bringing together and
nourishing people around the Mission.
With ingredients that our kitchen crew
use daily, local celebrity chefs will cook
for two hundred guests on the stage
of the iconic Palais Theatre.
There will be lots of entertainment,
a chance to chat with the chefs, food
related auction items and experiences,
and a mini cook book to take home.
On the same night a selection of local
restaurants will join in, with a percentage
of their bills going to the Mission. And at
the end of the night everyone can meet up
at the after party at the Vineyard!
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1. Karen Martini is one of the celebrity chefs
who will cook for two hundred guests
using ingredients found daily in our
dining hall kitchen.
For more information about either of these events,
please call our Events Coordinator Sarah Green on:
0411 401 094 or email sgreen@sacredheartmission.org.
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