April 23, 2015
The Salvation Army will be moving to a new way of delivering help to people in crisis, Major Allan Kerr told a breakfast meeting at Nanango RSL on Thursday.
In the past, most people who needed help simply presented themselves at a local Salvation Army office.
“We might give them a pack of emergency groceries or a fuel voucher or whatever it was they needed to get out of whatever immediate trouble they were in,” Major Kerr said.
“But the problem with that type of help is that it’s a bit like applying a band-aid. You might fix the immediate problem, but you don’t address the real underlying causes.
“What’s worse, that model makes it too easy for emergency help services to become part of some people’s budgets.
“And rather than encourage people to get back on their feet, it can actually do the opposite and entrench them in a cycle of welfare dependency instead.”
To counter this, the Salvos have recently been trialling a new method for delivering help that’s proven so successful they’ll be rolling it out nation-wide later this year.
In future, people who turn to the Salvos for help with be asked to call a central number, where experts will assess their situation over the phone.
The assessors will then recommend them to a local Salvation Army office where they’ll be given specific help designed to address not only any immediate problem they might have, but the underlying causes as well.
Major Kerr said this new model was designed to help break “budgeted welfare dependency” and direct welfare funds back into the community more effectively.
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News about the new way the Salvos will be approaching their work was given as part of a breakfast called by the South Burnett Red Shield Appeal committee to launch this year’s fund-raising effort.
The 7:00am event drew a mixed audience of local business people, Salvation Army officers and media.
Well-known Nanango bush poet Bruce Webb provided light-hearted entertainment as guests downed coffee, orange juice, and bacon and eggs.
And South Burnett Times editor Shannon Newley, who filled in as compere for former Nanango Shire Mayor Reg McCallum, regaled the audience with stories of her 15 years in the media and the three months she’s so far spent in the South Burnett.
Administration assistant Kylie Birch, from the Salvation Army’s Kingaroy office, provided a sneak preview of the Appeal’s 2015 TV campaign, and long-standing Appeal Chairman Mark Huston urged guests to support this year’s drive in whatever way they could.
Major Kerr said a lack of generosity from South Burnett residents towards the Appeal was never a problem. Instead, the biggest problem was getting enough door-knockers to go out into the community to collect donations.
Because of this, the Salvos have now switched to online donations.
However, individuals or groups who’d like to doorknock on behalf of the Salvos at any time during May are still welcome.
Doorknockers can be of any age, but if they’re under the age of 15 they must be accompanied by an adult.
If you’d like to do some door-knocking, call Major Allan Kerr on 0407-220-975.
The Red Shield Appeal is one of the Salvation Army’s largest fund raisers, and this year’s Appeal will run throughout May.
