Success Stories/Stats

Doing Good Locally

It is not possible to relate in this site the full extent of the many activities and undertakings of the Samaritans Foundation.

Samaritans believes that building and strengthening connections with the community provides an opportunity for people to become involved in helping and supporting one another. What follows are some short examples that illustrate how these initiatives enable people to connect with their community and within their environment to enhance their lifestyles and experiences.

Extending the hand of friendship

A remarkable reunion has added a new meaning to the services that Friendship House provides.

The Anglican, together with the Catholic and Uniting churches, established the Friendship House programme in 1994 as a Life After Prison Ministry to provide accommodation and support service for ex-offenders leaving Cessnock prison. Friendship House provides accommodation for up to two men at a time for up to 28 days and is run by volunteers with the support of Samaritans’ worker Steve Warham.

Recently Friendship House accepted a referral for a gentleman who was being released from prison in the Northern Territory. The man had lived in Newcastle as a small child but had no clear recollection of where he and his family had lived – or if in deed his family were still in the area.

One of the volunteers kindly offered to drive the man through the northern suburbs of Newcastle – an area that the man thought might have been his former home – to see if the man might recollect any familiar landmarks. Within 20 minutes he was standing on the front door of a house he’d last been in 20 years previously. To his surprise, his Aunt answered the door, opened her arms and welcomed him home. He moved out of Friendship House back to his family within two days.

Friendship House is just one of many projects that helps people put their lives back together. Despite some funding problems in recent times, the House has remained a vital part of this work largely due to the work of the staff, volunteers and community donations.

Partnerships

Samaritans works closely with a number of organisations for the benefit of the community. By joining forces with these organisations, Samaritans has broadened its connections to deliver better outcomes for people in need.

Two Bishops Trust

The Two Bishops Trust is a unique partnership formed by the Anglican and Catholic Churches and their respective welfare agencies, Samaritans and St Vincent de Paul. It was created to combat local unemployment. The Trust has developed a range of innovative programmes and projects that currently run in the areas of Windale and Booragul in Lake Macquarie as well as Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. Successful projects include the employment initiative between the Department of Housing and Two Bishops Trust for tenant employment programmes. The success of this project has seen Samaritans provide seed funding for the tenants to develop their own co-operative to manage the contracts with the DOH.