Young couple committed to helping others

Kindness comes in many forms. This week we had a wonderful donation of soup from a young couple who wanted to regularly give back to the community. They intend to donate soup every week during the winter months.

Whilst showing the couple around St John’s Care, they were very interested in the type of clients that we support and asked if they were all homeless.

I said that the homeless made up a percentage of our visitors to the Centre, but others are financially disadvantaged and receiving benefits from the Government but are struggling to pay for everyday items needed to survive.

I told the couple about people escaping domestic violence who may have lived with money before but as soon as they left the family home, they had nothing.

I shared a story with them about Sammy (not her real name) who is now a single mother of four children all under the age of 8 years. Sammy lived with the father of her children and had done for the past ten years. They had a good life financially and her partner worked as an engineer. She said that initially things were ok, but gradually his drinking increased, and the alcohol fuelled violence started towards her.

Sammy had no family in Queensland where she lived. They are all in New Zealand, so she felt very isolated and alone. She was fearful for the safety of her children so one day, a few months ago, she left the family home together with all her belongings and came to Canberra.

She stayed with a friend, but knew it could not be for long, and she was advised to visit St John’s Care. Sammy was taken care of by our wonderful volunteers. SJC made arrangements via One Link, ACT Housing, and Roundabout for her to go into transitionary housing with a view to securing public housing in the near future. Roundabout helped her with baby items, clothes, and toys for the children.

The young couple who donated soup were quite shocked by Sammy’s story. They said they wanted to help more people like her. They took a donation form on leaving with a view to donating regularly to St John’s Care.

Kind regards,

Steph Stephens

Community Worker SJC

Items required: pasta sauce, toothpaste, large tinned fish, and full cream long life milk.