Our difficult resident situation at Carrical continues. On Thursday he moved into respite accommodation with a view to a permanent move there. This means of course that he is still one of our resos at the present time. His behavior is increasingly worrying and the effects of said behaviors continue to have a very detrimental impact upon the Carrical community. Amanda and I met with his key workers on Friday arvo to express our considerable concerns about his personal wellbeing and his effect on others. It was not a totally useless meeting – but not far off! Please keep this situation in your prayers.

http://www.lavamae.org/#!lavamae-the-need/ca4p

I was sent the link above by a friend – a supporter of SCH. I was fascinated by it and thought that Heartbeat readers might be too. I am NOT for a moment suggesting we start looking into equipping buses and businesses to shower homeless people – although I am sure there are many worst things we could do!! The initial thing that grabbed me here is the dignity something as simple as a shower helps to bring to someone’s life. This was followed by the idea of just how to go about answering the problems that disadvantaged people face – an issue not a million miles away from what we are on about. Anyway, have a bit of a butchers and see what you make of it.

A couple of points of note: Tuesday was a mixed day – VCAT did not deliver us the outcome we were looking for but definitely pointed us in the right direction. I abhor the manner in which VCAT is all about process – not justice. A little piece of me bleeds inside knowing that the actions of one resident who should most certainly NOT be housed by us has such a detrimental effect on all concerned with one of or houses. Still, we will continue to play the game of process until what we perceive as justice is served.

Also on Tuesday a first time donor donated $10,000 to us.

Tuesday also saw Hamer host its’ first Community Dinner as a group of 16 Boroondara Council employees undertaking an LV came to dinner followed by the usual talk from yours truly. Former Carrical reso Josh spoke too – in fact, he spoke brilliantly. Sadly, I was unable to persuade anyone to revoke the parking ticket I received last week!

If you missed the front page of the Progress Leader this week fear not – head to either the Servants website or Facebook page to view our, dare I say, latest front page story!!

The 12 Days of Christmas? The movie 12 Monkeys perhaps? 12 Midday, the first morning of the Trent Bridge Test and Australia are already all out?

Noooooooooo!!!! 12  days since my last post to Heartbeat. A few things have happened in that time – we have had a successful AGM; the Reflections theatre season was a far bigger success than I had anticipated; we continue to ‘enjoy’ fun and games with the Carrical reso we are hoping to have removed thru VCAT;  a couple od resos have moved out of the houses at the shortest of short notice; one of longest standing and most respected resos, Big Al, he of the front cover of Anthology fame, has become very unwell and is currently in the psych ward at St V’s (please pray for him); we have received a couple of significant financial gifts in the past few days – significant in terms of who they were from rather than the $ value; I have caught up in the last week with a couple of folks from the LV WCLP visit to Servants in late July and have my eyes opened to a couple of issues – in a good way; the LV Folio group had dinner at Romana on Tuesday night, followed by a visit to see the final night of Reflections, followed by hearing me speak at HWBC – a cracking evening seemed to be had by all; I spoke at the Rotaract Club of Swinburne Uni last week and feel quietly excited by what SCH/Swinburne possibilities might exist moving into the future; Paul from Romana was interviewed and photographed in front of the new greenhouses at Romana by the Progress Leader – for next week’s front cover; Warren brought my laptop back from the brink of death and it now has, hopefully, many more months of faithful service ahead; some folks from Rotary Club of Hawthorn came down to Hamer this morning to join me and Martin in a general Spring Clean type of morning. Doubtless I have missed a few occurrences  along the way!

The week ahead looks good too. Committee meeting, VCAT, the first LV visit to Hamer and the first Community Dinner to be held at Hamer too. Exciting times!!

Last Thursday Amanda, Warren and I had our annual review meeting with the Housing Registrar.

Forrest Gump quoted the following: ‘My Momma always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gone get.’

And our annual review with the Registrar is precisely as Forrest’s Momma proclaimed. We never know in advance just what we’re in for when we visit their slightly less than hallowed halls. The chocolate we received this year was bitter, very dark, quite adversarial and, well, not appreciated at all. It was a frustrating process – made all the more so that even as they made slightly offensive remarks about Servants and how they perceive us to be ‘unprofessional’ in specific areas they were happy to turn a blind eye to their own failings. Perhaps Warren will choose to elaborate here – the issue will certainly be raised at the October committee meeting.

I attended the monthly Boroondara Cares meeting this arvo. Servants has been a very interesting observer as BC has come to some prominence in the local community over the past 12 months. One of the more fascinating occurrences to observe has been how the almost toothless and inept Foundation Boroondara has morphed into The Boroondara Cares Foundation – almost seamlessly, at least on the surface! BCF is poised to be a very significant player in the local philanthropic/charity giving area. It is encouraging to know that Servants is held in such high regards by the local Rotary Clubs – who collectively are overseeing BCF.

A Rotary member informed me in conversation afterwards that one of the reasons SCH is so loved by the various Rotary Clubs is because of our ‘impeccable brand.’ This was very encouraging to hear.

Having been in Sydney twice in the past 2 weeks for conferences I aim to provide a short document for the next committee meeting in regards to my key findings of the 6 days I have been locked away listening and learning.

The Good is the story of Reso Don from Carrical. Right now, for the first time in 40 years, Don is visiting his sisters in the USA. For those of us who were present when we first interviewed Don less than 3 years ago this is about as unbelievably a good story as we get! The transformation in this man’s life since he came to Carrical is amazing – for further reading have a look at his story in Narrative.

The Ugly involves the Carrical reso we are keen to see move on. He has not vacated since being given his official Notice to Vacate. Amanda and I have sought legal advice as to the likelihood of our case winning in VCAT. The answer was not encouraging.  We are now back to the drawing board. The positive is that the reso in question is currently behaving quite appropriately. I believe Heartbeat to be the appropriate forum to let you all know re this situation – but I would ask you all to be mindful of confidentiality and privacy as we would not like this info to ‘get out.’

Today I attended the pre-conference day of the above named conference in Sydney. Today was based around how to build a cause related marketing campaign. Expecting a conference room filled with delegates where I could enjoy anonymity I was mighty surprised to realize I was one of 6 delegates. No anonymity! Instead – an expectation to contribute!! It was a terrific day led by 2 ace presenters. The networking was good – having time to consider some different aspects of Servants was encouraging and I am looking forward to what the next 2 days have I store for me/Servants.

In the Progress Leader this week I was reading a response from Josh Frydenberg to a letter which criticized the work the Government is doing to end homelessness. He finished his article by encouraging the person he was disagreeing with to get on board with his Christmas Giving Tree Appeal and donate to Servants. We have not been informed that we have been chosen as the recipient for a 4th consecutive year – but reading between the lines it sure does sound this way! This is a very beneficial gig for us each December. We have deliberately NOT budgeted for this so it would be a lovely bonus.

Warren and I had brekkie with Peter Allen this morning to discuss all things Boroondara Cares/Foundation Boroondara. It was an encouraging time – full of big dreams – as it always is when we meet with Peter. There were some terrific ideas raised in regards to housing for Servants specifically and for the City of Boroondara in general.

I had my first glimpse of the new Scotch/Servants theatre piece – ‘Reflections’ – this week. It’s looking good! To recap, this is a piece of theatre that has been developed by drama students at Scotch based on a concept I presented them with at the start of the year. The piece will show in The Cramond Theatre at Scotch – those of you who saw the initial, dare I say, now legendary, first season of ‘Voices’ will understand the significance of going back to The Cramond. The piece lasts about 45 minutes and entry is by gold coin donation at the venue – no need. to book.

Dates: Sunday 4th October @ 4.00pm (preview show) and Monday 5th, Tuesday 6th, Wednesday 7th October commencing 7.00pm.

I hope you will consider attending.

On Thursday morning I met with Dr. Davies, the Principle of Trinity Grammar. Good guy – big shoes to follow as his predecessor was greatly loved and was at Trinity for an age. He wanted to talk about the Trinity/SCH relationship in general and just where we might take it – but specifically wanted to talk about a 20 hour a week employment opportunity at Trinity for one of our resos. Gold!!! From that conversation he realized Trinity could significantly help some members of our reso group with other opportunities. All good news!

In other employment news many of you reading this will know Paul Beagley – Romana reso. He has started some paid employment with a contact I made via Hawthorn Community Chest. Paul’s boss is keen to employ up to another 9 our of resos doing some work for his business in a paid, occasional employment capacity. Good things are happening.

In

I spoke to a handful of souls at the Welsh Church in the city earlier this week about the work of Servants. Although few in number they were pleased to hear what I had to say – and I was amazed at some of the work with homeless folks that is coming out of one of their communities. It was really very encouraging.

A few of you out there in Heartbeatland will know of Carrical reso Nick. Nick is a special and unique individual who is greatly loved by all who encounter him. He loves his heavy metal bands (good man Nick!) and also loves sporting the most offensive of heavy metal band t-shirts – including the now infamous Cannibal Corpse t-shirt which shows many decapitated heads less than elegantly displayed on poles. Charming!

The table is now set for the story. Nick turned up yesterday to the Sunday morning service at Hawthorn West Baptist Church (wearing an offensive t-shirt but not the Cannibal Corpse one)

Prior to the service Nick mentioned the following to the chap who brought him along:

‘God?!  Yeah. I saw God once. I climbed up a tree and knocked myself out. I saw a light and heard some Enya shit playing in the background!!’  Profound!!

I am Heartbeating during the arvo tea break on Day 3 at the Funding & Philanthropy Conference. This is the 3rd and final day. I fly home tonight in readiness for birthday and Father’s Day celebrations this weekend! The conference today has proved to be an extraordinary experience for me. Not so much in terms of who I have watched present (although there have been a couple of standout presentations) but in terms of whom I have met. This has been a very special day of networking and I have several things to follow up with in the next couple of weeks. I often think that many chance happenings occur within SCH at JUST the right moment – I believe this has been true again today. Exciting times!

I am in Sydney attending the annual Fundraising & Philanthropy conference. The conference started with a half day on Wednesday followed by full days today and tomorrow. Last year I attended not really knowing what to expect – and was delighted by what I heard and learned. This year’s conference to date has built on my experiences of last year – especially in light of some of the outcomes some of our efforts in this area have produced over the past 12 months. I would be very surprised if SCH was not the smallest org by revenue represented at this conference. The majority of the orgs here are BIG and are 100% dependent upon gifts/donations to survive. This puts us in a very different arena of operation – however, the principles of what I am hearing/learning are relevant to a group of any size. It confirms to me that we do very many things well in this field – clearly with room to improve of course.

Gifts that keep on giving – got to love them!

In our case one of these is certainly Leadership Victoria. I would struggle to even guess now how much value/benefit/$$ income has come our way since we became involved with LV in early 2012. The latest benefits have arisen from the recently held WCLP visit to Servants in late July (I Heartbeated at the time that this had been an extraordinary visit even by the high standards SCH/LV are used to operating within.) One of the chaps in the program that night is a Director of  charitable foundation – he asked what we needed for the houses – easy answer – freezers, always freezers. (Freezers are the closest thing we have to a license to print money – any guesses as to why this might be?!) He asked me to put in an application for some goods to the foundation. We put in for 6k worth of goods – adding a coupe of other items alongside the freezer. Last night he informed me that not only was the 6k approved – but the foundation had decided to give us 10k. Now, in my experience, this NEVER happens. Good news eh?! This foundation is keen to develop an ongoing relationship with Servants.

Other occurrences from the late July evening saw participants donate such large amounts of money to Romana resident Paul for his Team Servants fundraising campaign that he finished on top of our fundraising leaderboard; a Romana reso has been offered a scholarship place on an LV course being held in 2016 and I have commenced communication with a couple of other participants from that night who are keen to be involved with Servants having been well and truly ‘infected’ by what we are on about.

Hurrah!!

Candlelight Productions are offering Servants committee members/staff and resos free tickets to this Saturday night’s session of their latest theatre piece – Stone the Boats. It is playing at the Mechanics Institute in Brunswick. Kick off 7.30pm.

If you would like tickets for yourself/resos please send me an email and I will have tickets reserved for you.