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City Wesleyan is one of 4 inner city churches working on a project called Crash Beds which started on 13th October.
| News Flash | | The working group
(LIT) met again on Tuesday 13 Dec. and have finalised the decision on where to from
here. The Crash Beds Pilot has had sufficient outcomes to warrant its
continuation. It will still all be organised and run by volunteers. The Pilot
will conclude on 8th January and will continue on as The Crash Beds Project until 10th
September so that it can be operate during winter. The seasonal change could
affect the number of referrals.
Included in the
Crash Beds Project, will be the Family
Crash Beds Pilot for 12 weeks
commencing 12th January involving only City Wesleyan
Church on Thursday
nights. We’ve heard from a few service agencies that they have to turn
away a parent [mostly a mother] with children back onto the street. One night a
week may not be an ideal offer at all, but we felt it’s somewhere to
start and trial, and means they can hopefully access housing assistance the
next day when services are open. |
What it is: - A pilot program, running approx. 3 months, inviting inner-city churches to open their building 1 night per week for 6 homeless, single women to sleep there the night. The church will provide at least 2 volunteers. We use the Tongan Valley church. - We look after Thursday nights: 8pm-8am. Target Group: - Single homeless women has been chosen as the target group as they are currently the most vulnerable on the streets. Women who present with children will most often receive some kind of support and help that very night whereas a single woman can be turned away. - In Brisbane there are 250+ beds for single men. - There are only 17 beds available for single women + 18 beds at Pindari [the latter are not accessible during the day, nor are Crash Beds] - Under 18s have more facilities and possibly do not face the same risk as a single woman. Volunteers:
- Volunteers' basic details are kept on record by me for insurance purposes. - Volunteers don't need a blue card for this project (except for volunteers with the City Wesleyan group). - We have 3 volunteers each week. This means that if something important comes up or someone is sick, the night can still go ahead with 2 people. Ken's Drug Arm team has worked on this model and has been the most sustainable out of all the teams for about 5 years now. - Volunteers require training in things like: o the role of volunteers o what to do should there be a crisis situation o Health & safety o understanding the referral system for homeless women - Training is compulsory for volunteers - Frequency of volunteering: o presently, our volunteers are rostered on no more often than once a month
- There will be training offered periodically for people interested in volunteering, so they can get on the roster as soon as possible.
- Volunteers don't need to be just from our group, so if you know others who may be interested, please pass the word.
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Crash Beds 
