Downtown Community Ministry

• • November Update from DCM - Together We Can End Homelessness

    • 29 Nov 2019
    • Downtown Community Ministry
    • 96 November Update from DCM - Together We Can End Homelessness p{ margin:10px 0; padding:0; } table{ border-collapse:collapse; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{ display:block; margin:0; padding:0; } img,a img{ border:0; height:auto; outline:none; text-decoration:none; } body,#bodyTable,#bodyCell{ height:100%; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } .mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important; } #outlook a{ padding:0; } img{ -ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic; } table{ mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .ReadMsgBody{ width:100%; } .ExternalClass{ width:100%; } p,a,li,td,blockquote{ mso-line-height-rule:exactly; } a[href^=tel],a[href^=sms]{ color:inherit; cursor:default; text-decoration:none; } p,a,li,td,body,table,blockquote{ -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; } .ExternalClass,.ExternalClass p,.ExternalClass td,.ExternalClass div,.ExternalClass span,.ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%; } a[x-apple-data-detectors]{ color:inherit !important; text-decoration:none !important; 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} } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImageCardLeftImageContent,.mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-bottom:0 !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important; width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h1{ font-size:30px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h2{ font-size:26px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h3{ font-size:20px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h4{ font-size:18px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .headerContainer .mcnTextContent,.headerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .bodyContainer .mcnTextContent,.bodyContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .footerContainer .mcnTextContent,.footerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } Support DCM this Christmas Each year, Nota Bene hold a very special Christmas concert at Prefab Hall as a fundraiser for DCM’s work with people who are experiencing homelessness. Those of you who were able to visit our 50th birthday photo exhibition will have seen this image by Wellington photographer Mark Beehre which reflected the loyal support of these talented performers. We encourage you to head down and join us at Prefab for a glass of wine in the sun, some beautiful music and a chance to lift up these kaitautoko of our work. Please get the word out to all your contacts and networks!   Tuesday 3 December, 6-8pm Prefab Hall, 14 Jessie Street No cover charge. Koha for DCM. <!-- --> Reaching out to the most marginalised DCM’s Outreach team helps support Wellington’s most marginalised people. It also gives Wellingtonians a way to make a real difference in the lives of people begging or sleeping rough in the city. It’s the bright blue sleeping bag that catches Natalia Cleland’s eye. The woman is lying on a wooden bench in the winter sun outside the McDonald’s on Manners Street. Her long brown hair falls over the backpack she’s using as a pillow as she tries to sleep, facing the back of the bench. While Rob Sarich stays back, both to not alarm the woman and to remain watchful, Natalia approaches and talks to her. After a few minutes, Natalia returns. "I know her. And I’m really glad to see her because she hasn’t been in for a while and I was starting to get worried. She told me she’s hungry, so I said to come in for a feed and a korero. I’ll also check where she is on the social housing register and see if there’s anything I can do." Natalia and Rob are social workers with DCM. Formerly known as the Downtown Community Ministry, for 50 years DCM has been working to end homelessness in Wellington. Offering a variety of services, one of their main focuses is on supporting their taumai (meaning ‘to settle’, and what DCM calls those who use its services) into sustainable housing and back into life. To ensure people who are experiencing homelessness get the support they need, each week day DCM social workers walk the capital’s streets, usually in pairs, on ‘Outreach’, looking for people who are begging or appear to be sleeping rough. While much of DCM’s work is funded by donors and fundraising, the Wellington City Council pays for DCM’s Outreach team as part of its commitment to ending homelessness and street begging. "Many people experiencing homelessness or street begging find their way here to DCM," says Natalia. "But there are others who we aren’t working with and who aren’t engaging with other services. So we go out to speak with them where they are, and to encourage them to spend some time with us at DCM. "We also get referrals from other social services. Like, the team at the Soup Kitchen might call to say there’s someone new in town and can we come talk to them about how DCM can support them? We take the approach that any door is the right door. We don’t mind how they get to us; we just want them to come in and spend time at DCM. Then we can begin to build a relationship with them, with the aim of getting them off the street and into a whare," says Natalia. Rob and Natalia clearly have great memories for names and faces. At Midland Park, on the lunchtime-busy Lambton Quay, the pair spot a man they’ve seen before. He’s sitting on a bench, his duffle bag tucked beside him. "To most people he looks like someone taking a rest, but we immediately see someone who’s not quite fitting in," says Rob. They both go over and talk; Natalia perches a polite distance away on the bench and Rob sits on a concrete step in front of him. They don’t talk long. "But that’s the longest we’ve managed to talk to him. Usually he doesn’t even let us sit down," says Natalia. "He just says, 'No thank you, no thank you,' and waves us off. But we usually get a bit more information each time." It takes a certain chutzpah to go up to someone sleeping rough and begging to talk about their situation.  But it’s what Natalia, Rob and other members of DCM who go on Outreach do. "We’ll introduce ourselves and say where we’re from, and we’ll invite them down to DCM," says Natalia.  And when they do come down, there’s a lot DCM can offer. They can talk to the physio about their aches from sleeping rough, see a dentist for the toothache that’s giving them constant pain or get something from the food bank. "We look for what’s going to interest them enough to engage, then we can start talking about housing," says Rob.  There is some reciprocity expected. "That might be only that they open up to us a little too, that they give us their real name, or their real date of birth; something that shows some trust in us," says Rob. "What we do is about manaakitanga, which is about hospitality, but also about lifting up people’s mana. So we need to give them the space to show that they can do something too." There’s something the public can do as well, and it’s not about giving money or sandwiches. It’s calling the Wellington City Council if they see someone sleeping rough within the council’s boundaries. The council then calls DCM, who send one of their people out to engage with them, bashing through bush, scrambling up trees or down under bridges if that’s what it takes. "Often it’s people we would never have found on our own," says Natalia. "One time we got a call about a woman sleeping at the Freyberg Beach toilets, and another in the Balaena Bay toilets. We can’t go and knock on all the toilet doors so we wouldn’t have found them without someone calling us." While DCM certainly needs notifications from the public, the best ones come from the taumai themselves, concerned about someone new sleeping rough. "Often they will meet someone at the Night Shelter or somewhere on the streets and they’ll encourage them to come and see us, or they’ll bring them in. We love that. That shows real trust.’" – From the latest One Percent Collective Generosity Journal. Words by Lee-Anne Duncan. Images by Pat Shepherd. We are looking for new kaimahi (staff) to join DCM's Street Outreach Team. If you would love to be part of the amazing work you've just read about, please get in touch with Matt. <!-- --> Giving feels good! One Percent Collective helps to raise money for DCM and 13 other Kiwi-based charities. They’re a tiny crew of two people but they’re making a big difference. Since 2015 their regular givers have contributed $170,000 to DCM. 100% of that money has been passed on to us. One Percent Collective handles all of the admin so the money just shows up in our account – no strings attached. One Percent Collective’s running costs are covered by 50 generous individuals and corporate sponsors but they don’t have big marketing budgets. Between now and March 2020, they’re running a campaign with a target of 200 new givers. That could mean up to $10,000 extra raised per year for DCM! Their campaign celebrates those who give and the good feelings that giving brings. We encourage you to join One Percent Collective. If you already donate to us, please help One Percent Collective inspire generosity in more people by sharing this link via social media. Do good - feel good! Support One Percent Collective and DCM. <!-- --> Buy a gift for DCM We just can’t get by without a reliable freezer here at DCM. We store the wonderful donations of Pandoro products and other frozen goods which we receive from generous Wellingtonians in our foodbank freezers. But our trusty and ageing freezer is beginning to make strange noises, and we really need to replace it in the next few weeks. Can you or someone you know help us with this? A brand new chest freezer will cost us about $1,000.If this is something you'd like to purchase, or contribute toward, please get in touch. <!-- --> Please help us get the message out there! Forward this email on to everyone you can think of who may be interested in how to respond to homelessness, and just generally people who are passionate about Wellington. <!-- --> Read More Success Stories Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive <!-- --> Copyright © 2019 DCM. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: DCMPO Box 6133Marion SqWellington, Wellington 6011 New ZealandAdd us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
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