ISSUE NO. 1 WINTER 2016 Flourish Celebrating the people and programs of UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide 8-9 NEW YOUTH PROGRAMS CREATING A BRIGHTER FUTURE 5 7 10 12 14 IN THIS Old beds are Helping more Fun, food & Congratulations Winter campaign ISSUE: put to good people to laughter for to our newest launched to help use overseas access loans Chinese New Year Centenarians homeless “ We are privileged to support people to overcome life challenges.” CEO LIBBY CRAFT, 2016 Welcome elcome to Flourish, our We launch our annual winter new quarterly publication campaign, Hang it up for Poverty, Wshowcasing the amazing to help SA’s homeless and speak with work of our staff and volunteers – our Anti Poverty Team Leader about and the successes of those we our emergency assistance program work alongside. providing food and warmth to thousands of people in need each year. Our work makes an enormous difference to people in our community. In our aged care homes, we have had We join together as a team, take our Chinese New Year festivities bringing roles seriously and provide quality colour and laughter to our sites, and services to make a positive difference two of our residents celebrating their to people’s lives. We are proud of our 100th birthdays. organisation and what it represents. We also meet a family who is the We assist people to have a home, essence of why we do what we do. find employment, attend education, They arrived in Australia almost 20 and improve their health and years ago with nothing more than a wellbeing. We are privileged to suitcase and our organisation provided support people to overcome life them with food and clothing. Now, challenges and work with them they are giving back to help others to improve their quality of life. in need. In this edition we celebrate our These are just a few of the stories community collaborations bringing in our first edition. We look forward people from diverse backgrounds to bringing you many more, as together. There’s a soccer program we continue to work to create a helping new arrivals forge friendships, compassionate, respectful and just a project improving literacy among community in which all people can young children and a partnership participate and Flourish. delivering beds from our aged care homes to communities in need Ms Libby Craft world-wide. Chief Executive Officer UNITINGCARE WESLEY PORT ADELAIDE 2 FLOURISH MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 1 | 2016 IN THIS ISSUE 4 6 11 Meet the once struggling family Our Home Care Program is helping We sit down with Anti Poverty who are paying it forward to hundreds like Ruth stay in their own Team Leader Cindy Adey to learn others in need homes longer about the frontline Welcome UPCOMING DATES June July August 5 World Environment Day 3–10 NAIDOC Week 1–7 Homeless Persons Week 13–19 Men’s Health Week 9–24 School holidays 12 International Youth Day 19–25 Refugee Week 26 Free BBQ at Family Centre 26 HIUFP Quiz Night UCWPA PROFILE 20,299 822 151 2,149 5,021 PEOPLE CARED OCCASIONS OF LIVES EMPLOYEES VOLUNTEERS FOR ACROSS EMERGENCY TOUCHED AGED CARE ASSISTANCE UNITINGCARE WESLEY PORT ADELAIDE 3 FLOURISH MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 1 | 2016 1 The cycle of giving: one family’s story hen Jasminka, her son and All three of her boys have gone on “Seeing a family come full circle, from grandson turned up at our to develop successful careers as an being the recipient to becoming the WFamily Centre with a trailer electrician, a small business owner donor, is what gets me out of bed in brimming with goods to donate, it was and a chef. the morning,” Ms Adey says. the culmination of a very long journey. “I have worked very hard to raise my “That’s what our role in the community A journey that started with Jasminka’s children and give them everything,” is all about – helping people to help upbringing in Croatia, her fleeing to Jasminka says. themselves and then, in an ideal world, Serbia with three young children to being in a position to help others.” “None of it would have been possible live in a refugee camp post-war, without that help when we first arrived. and her move to Australia to start 2 a new life. “Now we are able to give back.” It was 1999 when Jasminka arrived And that is just what the family in Adelaide with her husband and is doing. children, then aged 5, 15 and 18. The trailer of goods they donated “When we arrived we had nothing,” included a multitude of clothes, shoes, Jasminka recalls. toys and other household items. “Just one suitcase and three boys.” Jasminka says being able to donate “Seeing a family was a defining moment for her. Our organisation helped the new come full circle, from arrivals by providing them with “I know someone will be able being the recipient to clothes and vouchers to buy food. to use these things,” she says. becoming the donor, The family slowly carved out a life here, “I feel happy and satisfied that I can is what gets me out of do good things and now help others.” gaining work, education and a house bed in the morning.” in Salisbury, where Jasminka now lives Our Anti-Poverty Team Leader, Cindy with two of her sons, her daughter-in- Adey, says stories such as Jasminka’s CINDY ADEY law and three grandchildren. inspire her work every day. 1 Jasminka with her sons Danilo and Jasmin. 2 The family donates goods to UCWPA volunteer Amanda. UNITINGCARE WESLEY PORT ADELAIDE 4 FLOURISH MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 1 | 2016 Graffiti program gives back Our Wesley Social Enterprises team is helping clean up the western suburbs with a new graffiti removal program. The team is working with local councils and Transport SA to remove tags as part of a 12-month Old beds put to good use pilot project, which WSE Manager Tony Heinrich hopes will become a permanent program. He says the initiative is reducing undreds of beds from our aged “I am sure that all those needy people in the incidence of graffiti in the care sites are being sent to those countries would like me to pass district, while also providing developing countries world- on their appreciation for the beds and H extra work for people with wide to help communities in need. the basic health care and dignity that a disability who are part of these goods provide.” We have donated the beds to Rotary Wesley Social Enterprises. as part of their Donations in Kind In the past 18 months we have also The program also includes a program, which helps communities in donated about 100 beds from Wesley partnership with Western Youth South-West Pacific, South-East Asian House, 46 beds from St Teresa Aged Space to engage at-risk youths to and African countries. Care, 52 from Seaton Aged Care and create artworks around the Port. 32 from Hawksbury Gardens. Our most recent donation included “We are so excited our team 80 beds from Regency Green The donations were made possible has a new opportunity to help Multicultural Aged Care, which are thanks to Significant Refurbishment the community by cleaning up destined for Sierra Leone, Congo, funding, through the Department of our streets and buildings,” Liberia, Tonga, Tanzania and Zambia. Social Services, which allowed us to Tony says. replace beds across several of our sites. About 50 of them will go to help set “It will create extra hours of paid up a new hospital in Congo. UCWPA Senior Manager Aged Care employment for our supported Deborah Burton said it was wonderful The chairman of Rotary’s Donations in workforce, workers will learn to be able to put the beds we no longer Kind program for the Central Region, new skills and we will continue needed to good use. Dave Cockshell, sent us a Certificate of to build the range of services Recognition for our ongoing support. “To know that these beds have gone on offered by WSE. to help other communities in need, and “UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide have “Plus, the partnership with Western in one case even set up a new hospital, been very generous to us over quite Youth Space means we can help is so heartening,” Ms Burton said. some time,” Mr Cockshell said. disengaged youths. “We are delighted to work with “It really is a win-win for Rotary to support communities everyone involved.” of developing countries.” The project has been made possible thanks to a $50,000 State Government grant. Dave Cockshell, of Rotary’s Donations in Kind program and Tracey Zimmerman, Administration Officer at Regency Green. UNITINGCARE WESLEY PORT ADELAIDE 5 FLOURISH MAGAZINE | ISSUE NO. 1 | 2016 Ruth’s home is where her heart is our home is your castle, as the Mrs Johansen is among the growing “Then there’s Andrew who runs saying goes, and it could not number of older people being helped the exercises and he is wonderful. Ybe truer for Ruth Johansen. to live in their own homes for longer You ought to meet him. through our Home Care Program. The spritely 88 year old’s home “And Craig drives the bus and in Semaphore is testament to her We supported more than 80 people he’s gorgeous too.” colourful character and rich life. with Home Care Packages in 2014-15, Life today is very different for Mrs and a further 97 with Transitional Her shelves are full of books and Johansen than when she and her Care Packages.