Volunteering for Vinnies and the real face of need in Canberra

“You know I only call when I really need help,’’ the woman says early in our phone conversation.

The veteran Vinnies member I’m volunteering with replies: “I know you do, and we’re always happy to help you.’’

I’ve met the woman occasionally over the two and a half years I’ve been volunteering with Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn. She lives in public housing, has ongoing health conditions and manages as best she can on the aged pension. Any unexpected expenses are beyond her budget.

She explains relatives will be staying with her for a while due to a family crisis and she’s not sure how she’s going to feed them. She doesn’t have enough bedding for the visitors and the Canberra winter isn’t far away.

The woman is typical of many of the people who phone Vinnies: she needs our help because she is helping others.

We arrange to deliver supermarket and foodbank vouchers and vouchers for doonas and blankets from the local Vinnies store.

Our next conversation is with a man who is couch surfing at a friend’s home while he looks for permanent housing and waits to start a new job. He is short of money for groceries and unable to pay for vital medication. We arrange to deliver him supermarket and foodbank vouchers and arrange payment for his medicine.

We drop around the vouchers and chat with the people on their doorsteps before returning to our homes and typing up details of the assistance provided.

Many Australians are familiar with Vinnies shops and the work the organisation does with people sleeping rough. But they may be unaware of other Vinnies services, including emergency assistance provided by volunteers who visit people in need in their own homes or other locations.

My fortnightly voluntary duty begins at lunchtime when I read a secure message from the Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn office with the details of the local people who have phoned the assistance line and live in the suburbs around our parish church.

After work I’ll meet up with the other Vincentian I’m paired with to phone back the callers and discuss how we can assist them.

In most cases, people don’t have enough money to get them through until they next receive a social security payment or from paid work. The most common form of assistance provided is a grocery voucher.

In other cases, we might provide a voucher to the local Vinnies shops so that a person can buy clothes or blankets. If they need a mattress or furniture, we can contact the Vinnies warehouse. We will also provide referrals to other organisations that might be able to help.

I’ve learnt a lot from the experienced Vincentians I volunteer with, some of whom have been involved for decades and spent years getting to know some of the families we assist.

One of the things they’ve taught me is the importance of offering a listening ear to people experiencing tough times, although on a busy night we sometimes don’t have time to chat for as long we’d like.

Criticisms are sometimes thoughtlessly thrown at Australians living in poverty and the charities and community organisations which help them.

One criticism is that people should ‘just a get a job’. Many of the people Vinnies assists are elderly or have long-term physical or mental health problems and caring responsibilities which make it difficult for to them to find or maintain steady work. Others have jobs but are still experiencing poverty.

Critics say that charitable organisations are unnecessary because governments should help people in need. Vinnies (which gratefully receives some government funding) is one of the many charities consistently arguing for governments to do more to assist people in need, including through higher social security payments.

But even if government support for people experiencing poverty was increased substantially, bureaucratic processes still wouldn’t always be flexible enough to provide people with the support they need.

One of the areas we’d like to be able to do more in is helping people who are struggling to access services such as specialised health care, Centrelink benefits, or the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Although we do our best, we don’t always have the skills or knowledge to help people who are struggling to access services. And other organisations which provide advocacy services often have long waiting lists.

Vinnies (and many other great charities) makes a positive difference to people’s lives every day. Some of those we assist are among the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn is always looking for passionate volunteers. If interested, sign up today by emailing volunteer.cg@vinnies.org.au or visit the website.

*Details of people assisted by Vinnies have been fictionalised to protect the privacy of individuals.

Peter Jean is a Canberra writer and a member of the Charnwood Vinnies conference.