At Broadwater Southport Rotary Club's December 17, 2021 Friday Breakfast, Vice President Howard Manning presented the club's annual donation to The Salvation Army.
Rtn. Rowan Johnstone, Relationship Manager, Southern Queensland, The Salvation Army Australia Territory, was presented with our Club's annual donation of $1,000 by Vice-President, Howard Manning, at our Broadwater Southport Rotary Breakfast on Friday 17/12/21. Rowan briefed us on The Salvation Army's impact their services have on people's lives.
Each year, as part of their Stronger Communities Project, The Salvation Army measures the impact that our services have on people’s lives throughout Australia.
It covers our 6 Key areas of homelessness, family and domestic violence, Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD), Moneycare financial counselling, Doorways (Emergency Relief and Casework) and Youth Services.
It involves measuring changes in people’s circumstances due to their engagement with our services nationally.
The Salvation Army’s social and community services have provided critical services to assist people who;
- are at risk of, or experienced homelessness
- affected by family violence
- lost their job, or experienced hardship
- are without food or unable to afford basic essentials
- struggled with addiction
- impacted by drought and bushfires and
- isolated or lonely.
The Numbers for the 2019-20 financial year include;
Nearly 1600 (1596) church run community support activities
Nearly 54,000 (53,902) sessions of support for people experiencing financial difficulty
Nearly $98M ($97,915, 376) of financial assistance provided
Over 13,000 (13,346) people provided financial counselling
Over 1M (1.048,725) sessions of care across all social programs
Over 360,000 (362,922) food vouchers provided to people accessing The Salvation Army Services
Nearly 11,000 (10,952) people assisted with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, gambling and rehabilitation services
Over 41,000 (41,033) who were homeless or at risk of homelessness
Nearly 1.6M (1,594,912) meals provided to people who accessed homelessness services
Over 43,000 (43,524) sessions of care provided to people experiencing family and domestic violence
Over 1300 (1340) people provided refuge, emergency accommodation due to family and domestic violence
Nearly 600 (591) people provided with some form of longer term housing by The Salvation Army
Whilst measurement of impact is important, and numbers count, it’s the stories of those who have journeyed with The Salvos that best tell the difference that they make.
Rowan also provided us with The Salvation Army's Media Release on the 83% of Queensland families in need are struggling to afford Christmas presents for their children, which references the research details (see below).
As is commonly said and acknowledged, "Thank God for the Salvos".
