Greetings …

Each one of us will have times when we need to rely on others for assistance.  Often our family, friends and community can assist, but not everyone is so fortunate to have help on hand when it is needed.

Uniting Vic.Tas is the community services organisation of the Uniting Church, which strives, through its services and programs, to make a difference to those who need a helping hand.  When things were pretty tough, Annie* (*name changed for privacy) needed help from Uniting.  Here is part of her story.

        Fearing for her safety, Annie was forced into homelessness.

        She arrived at Uniting’s Engagement Hub in St Kilda malnourished and exhausted. Her skin stained from dirt, body grazed from sleeping rough and wearing the same clothes she had on eight weeks earlier.

        It was her first time asking for help.

        The first time needing a safe space to shower, eat, find fresh clothes.

        Annie was helped with emergency housing, provided with personal essentials, and surrounded by a community who gave her a safe space to weep. She was listened to and shown kindness.

        As Annie headed off for a hot shower she commented to a volunteer:

        “The longer I’m on the street the more I fade away. But here, I am seen and cared for and made to feel human again. Thank you.”

I wonder how it would feel to ‘fade away’ and then be ‘seen and cared for’?  What a blessing Uniting gave Annie.

Blessings – Rev Heather Hon (she/her).