NNC 2009 - 2010 Annual Report - Newtown Neighbourhood Centre

PG 20 PG 21Individual Counselling ServiceThis on-going and important service continued throughout theyear to provide low cost counselling to individuals in need ofemotional and psychological support. In the last year we wereable to expand the service to two counsellors providing up to six1 hour sessions of individual counselling a week. Our qualifiedcounsellors volunteer their own time, often leaving their ownpractices or studies to assist people in the community. Over 40people accessed the service over the year, for periods rangingfrom a one off session to over six months. Our warm thanks toDarren, Janet and Josephine who started with us in April 2010.One Stop Shop -Housing NSW, Centrelink & Tenancy Outreach ServiceThe Housing NSW outreach services continued for the year andbecame even more important as Broadway Housing NSW officewas closed. The Housing Outreach was supplemented by a oncea week Centrelink outreach and complemented with fortnightlyTenancy Outreach service provided by Marrickville Legal Centreand Inner West Tenant’s Service.This was the beginnings of providing a more holistic and onestopshop service to the community. This commenced in March2010. It is now referred to as the Essential Services Hub, whereevery Thursday afternoon, people can see Centrelink, HousingNSW, Tenancy Advice, Lawyers and Homelessness OutreachServices all under one roof.The Hub is also supported by the Neami Assertive OutreachService which is targeted at people experiencing chronichomelessness.Tax HelpThanks to Susanna, who runs the ATO tax help service everyyear from July to October for low income earners (under$40,000 per year) who need assistance with tax returns.Social, Health and Wellbeing GroupsWe also run a number of regular social groups aimed at healthand well being. These include: Wrap with Love, Gentle Exercise,Tai Chi and Fortnightly Community Bingo. All were as popularas ever and continue to provide much needed levity, socialinteraction and exercise for the local community.MeditationThese classes ran for a 10 week period at the beginning of theyear. They were both an explanatory introduction as well as aclass to practice meditation lead by Meng, a Buddhist monk andlocal community member. They provided an oasis of tranquilityduring the busy day for staff and clients. Meng left at the end of2009 but we were fortunate to meet Anna who has been runninglunchtime meditation sessions every Wednesday since March.Arabic ClassesBeginners Arabic classes began in May 2009 and continuedthrough to September. They proved popular with between8-10 people attending. The class finished due to conflictingcommitments of the teacher, Dia, but they provided a greatintroduction to the language for those months.English ClassesWe were able to offer Beginner’s English Classes fromMarch this year. Through the generous volunteering of ourteacher Janice people were able to work on their conversationalEnglish. These classes attracted people of all ages and differentbackgrounds and will continue into the year.Community BBQsOur BBQs remain as popular as ever and continue to bringimportant issues and information to our client community.During the year we had information on the Big Issue, No InterestLoans scheme, Close the Gap theme and one to recogniseNational Sorry Day with support from Marrickville Residents forReconciliation.Big Issue EventIn July we held a Big Issue awareness event. Three peoplesigned up for further training with the Big Issue, two of thembegan working with the Big Issue and one is still working withthem and has moved from the street to renting his own roomwhile the other secured a permanent job after 2 months workingwith the Big issue. He said it gave him self confidence and alittle extra cash.Community Development SurveyDuring August, September and October we conducted a street,front counter and online survey of the community to see whatthey wanted from the NNC and from their community. Wereceived a great response with over 250 replies and are using thisinformation to develop future groups, programs, activities andevents. Look out for Yoga classes in the near future!Homeless Connect ççSydneyNewtown Neighbourhood Centre was pleased to participate inthe inaugural Sydney Homeless Connect event at Sydney TownHall in the first week of June. We joined over 60 other servicesin providing services to an estimated 1200 guests. Other servicespresent included legal services, hairdressers, Centrelink, HousingNSW, health services and clothing providers just to name a few. It was a great day and hopefully it will become an annual event.Thank You’sFinally we must give a big thank you to all our volunteersand students who ensure that the Front Counter can stayopen, properly welcome and service our visitors and run ourcommunity groups and activities. Without your dedication andsupport we would not be able to run half of the activities andimportant services offered.Ellouise DavisCommunity Development CoordinatorBasiM & Oeysha*Front Counter staff, in collaboration with a RefugeeOrganisation, assisted a refugee couple to accesshousing over a period of 2-3 weeks.This ongoing assistance involved helping them understandthe private rental market; access RentStart service from NSWHousing; prepare and write letters; and at the last minute,secure temporary shelter in a hostel until more permanenthousing was acquired.This was a very empowering action. The couple, within ashort time of entering the hostel, had found their own sharedaccommodation. Front Counter also referred and enrolled themwith Sydney Community College Refugee Mentoring Program.* Indicates name changedHOUSING OUTREACHREPORTThe Housing Outreach and Development Project started inOctober 2008 and concluded in April 2010. We were ableto extend the project beyond the initial 12 month end dateof October 2009 (when the City of Sydney funding that hadsupported the project concluded), due to a small grant from theMarrickville CDSE fund.The Marrickville grant allowed us, along with the utilisation ofsome of our own resources, to extend the project for a further sixmonths - carrying the project through to April 2010.The Housing Outreach and Development Project was hugelysuccessful; producing positive outcomes for homeless andinsecurely housed individuals, the wider Newtown communitysector, and Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. Our heartfeltthanks and the appreciation of many go to the projects tirelessworker, Marianne Todd - a passionate and dedicated advocate formany individuals forced onto the fringes of the wider community.Intensive CaseworkIntensive casework was carried out with over 67 recordedindividual cases, with unrecorded one-off advice and informationprovided to many others via the Front Counter.Activities included all aspects of supporting people to move outof homelessness or to improve their housing conditions. Thisincluded assistance with application forms, advocacy, supportwith housing appeals and establishing grounds for priorityhousing. We assisted with finding alternative boarding houses,emergency and supportive housing accommodation and liaisedthrough real estate companies.Beyond HousingThe trust and relationship that develops for individualsaddressing their housing issues often leads to a willingness andconfidence to raise and address other issues. Case work canoften involve intensive engagement moving beyond the initialpresentation of homelessness to involve issues of criminaljustice, family break up, drug and alcohol issues and mentalhealth. The worker also carried out visits to secure mental healthwards at RPA, visited people in boarding houses and workedwith homeless people outside of the Centre.The client demographic has been overwhelmingly males agedbetween the ages of 21 and 55. In the second half of the projecthowever; we saw an increasing number of ex-prisoners andwomen. A high proportion of women had children in the care ofDoCS. Poor mental health, drug, and alcohol issues were also apredominant feature for many people.Housing Outreach Project - Value for MoneyCost of Chronic Homelessness per person per year $34,000The cost of homelessness per year for the 14 $476,000people that were housed under this projectThe Project’s total funding $46,000Total Savings $430,000Project ImpactNewtown Neighbourhood Centre became an important referralpoint for many organisations dealing with homelessness issues.Word of mouth and a reputation in responding to and dealingwith homelessness issues, played a large role in attracting referralsto the Project and increased enquiries directed to NewtownNeighbourhood Centre.Quality of LifeFor those that were able to gain housing within the period, wehave witnessed improved mental health and wellbeing, improvedfamily relationships, and commitments to avoid the criminaljustice system. Those individuals who have gained housinghave also been in a position to help and advocate for others stillstruggling to improve their situations.Value for MoneyThe Project provided great value for money. It has been estimatedthat it can cost as much as $34,000 a year to support a personhomeless (this is based on costs of emergency and crisisaccommodation health costs etc). Our 18-month Project receivedtotal funding of $46,000, and we have tracked at least 14 people asbeing housed and 6 approved (vast majority for priority housing).At the time of writing, we know that all of the people we helpedinto secure accommodation remain in their homes, and havesustained their tenancies.Marianne ToddHousing Outreach WorkerPETE*Volunteers from St Vincent de Paul Society NSWcame to us and asked to help with Pete, whom theyhad been supporting. Pete was living in a convertedlaundry room under a house in Marrickville.The room had no windows and also contained his shower,WC and cooking area. It was no larger than 12 foot by 12foot, literally “no room to swing a cat”.Not only was Pete’s mental health very poor, he was alsoestranged from his family and socially isolated. We managed toget Pete on the Priority Waiting list, and he eventually receivedan offer. Now he is in his own home, enjoys improved mentalhealth, has reconnected with his family, as well as having moredisposable income, as a result of reduced rent costs.* Indicates name changed