By Andrew Humphries
As the cost of living continues to bite hard, a community service organisation in Tasmania’s northern midlands is helping to make life slightly easier for those needing help.
Like so many emergency relief and support agencies, Longford’s The Helping Hand wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for a group of committed volunteers.
Volunteers like Uniting Church lay preacher Graham Booth, who finds great joy in helping those who might need a hand.
The Helping Hand is supported by a number of local churches, including the Longford and Cressy Uniting Church congregations, and assists people in the Longford, Perth and Cressy postcode areas with everything from food to rent and short-term crisis accommodation, as well as referrals to other support services including Centrelink.
But more than that, says Graham, it’s a support agency that takes the time to listen to people.
“We offer emergency relief to the community and receive a Federal Government grant, as well as extensive community funding,” he says.
One example of community support comes in the form of Longford Blooms, an annual garden festival, which contributes around $11,000 to The Helping Hand.
More financial support came in the unusual form of a one-off bequest of half ownership of a cottage, which The Helping Hand was able to sell for a significant sum of money.
Graham can reel off some impressive statistics on how many people and families The Helping Hand assists, but figures tell only half of the story around what it offers.
“We do get a few homeless people, including young people, but also couples,” he says.
“We have dealt with people who have had to sleep under a bridge, or in cars, but also many people who are forced to couch surf.
“When people come in, there is food available to them from our fridge and kitchen, and every fortnight a community engagement officer comes in to help people with any issues relating to Centrelink.”
Next year, Graham will chalk up 20 years as a volunteer at The Helping Hand, something he describes as a true labour of love.
He is too modest to suggest he runs the organisation, but there is no doubt he is a pivotal part of the extraordinary contribution The Helping Hand makes to the community.
“I do a little bit of stuff around the place,” Graham says.
“I’m site co-ordinator, look after the maintenance checklist, work out the volunteer roster, and am one of the advisers here.
“As an adviser I will sit down with the client and find out what it is that they actually need.”
In doing so, Graham says, a rapport is quickly built with clients.
“It helps, of course, that most of us live locally and clients can see us in the street and have a chat,” he says.
Graham is pleased to see that the level of support from volunteers has broadened over the years, from those who volunteered only because of their connection to the supporting churches to people who now volunteer without any connection to a church while still personifying a Christian ethos.
As a long-time Uniting Church member, Graham sees his role with The Helping Hand as part of the commitment any person of faith should have to those in his or her community struggling to keep their heads above water.
“I see it as the foundational development of relationships with people,” he says.
“I have, on rare occasions, been asked to pray with a client and will do so, but the request has to come from the client.
“It’s certainly not a case of pushing my views on to anyone, and that is also part of the nature of the thinking behind The Helping Hand, which makes us so respected in the community.
“I love being able to help people, and I enjoy the fact that it’s an ecumenical community service and that it’s developed from the grassroots up, something which works incredibly well here.
“In terms of the future in a missional sense, a good outcome would be the community itself taking over the running of The Helping Hand, leaving the churches to then look at other areas of need.”
The Helping Hand is located at 2 Marlborough Street, Longford and can be contacted by email at [email protected]
