Volunteers from Thrive church at The Entrance are providing invaluable support for local social housing tenants through the Home in Place community hub – The Meeting Place – at Tumbi Umbi.
Residents can access a range of outreach services and participate in activities that build individual skills and strengthen the capacity of community members.
The Meeting Place supports Home in Place tenants and the wider community and is open between 10am and 2pm every week day except Mondays.
Thrive Crew manager, Bruce Pountney said the church members had been helping for more than three years with ground maintenance at The Meeting Place as well as providing meals to people in need and helping older tenants with home tasks such as lawn mowing, gardening and changing light globes.
Thrive’s community engagement officer, Kerri Sugitha, said there was an increasing need for this kind of support.
and her team also provide meals to people in need.
“Older people and those that are vulnerable often sit with things not being done for months and sometimes years, that’s the gap that we wanted to fill,” she said.
Carmel Thompson and Edith Thomsen have been volunteering every Thursday at the community hub’s Shack Shop since March 2022.
The shop provides affordable grocery and other items to local residents and people can also access free bakery items and vegetables through Foodbank and free staple foods and frozen goods through SecondBite.
“It’s absolutely satisfying being able to help out here,” Thompson said.
“The Home in Place staff do a great job here, and always finds time to assist anyone in need.”
Thrive heard about The Meeting Place via interagency meetings and although its support was hampered by COVID-19 restrictions it is now again in full swing.
The Meeting Place co-ordinator, Jenene Carling, said the Thrive volunteers were very generous with their time and made a real difference to the lives of local tenants.
“The Thrive Crew are invaluable to us, they definitely take a load off of our shoulders here at the hub,” she said.
“They have a great rapport with our community.”
The Thrive Crew is a mix of men and women from the church, willing to volunteer their time, and always welcome new volunteers to join their group and give a helping hand to others.
Source:
Media release, Oct 10
Thrive Church