I received a phone call on Monday from a woman who we will call Lorraine. Domestic violence had led her and her family to become homeless, but they are now living in public housing. As she hadn’t been into the Centre before I advised her to come in Recently, because of a back injury at work she lost her job and cannot return at the moment. She was unsure how she was going to survive without paid work. Lorraine visited the Centre on Tuesday and two volunteers and myself assist

The following story is a good reminder not to judge a book by its cover. At St John’s Care we have a saying, “Leave your judgement at home”. Last week a lady came in to the Centre driving in a new luxury car. One of the volunteers who was looking out the window saw the person drive up and thought the lady was here to donate some goods or money to support those in need. To her surprise, the lady came in with her children and asked for help with food and clothing. The volunteer

Last week we had a young woman visit St John’s Care who we will call Susan (not her real name). She has been through some hard times recently and hadn’t been to the Centre before. Because she has experienced domestic violence from an abusive partner she lives on her own with her young daughter. Our Community Worker, Steph, spoke with Susan and offered her a safe space to tell her story, talk about her issues and start making plans to improve her future. She explained that she

Some of our regular donors to St John’s Care ask, “What do you need other than food?” We are always in need of warm blankets and coats and, of course, cash donations are always welcome. A lot of our clients have simple needs, e.g. food, scripts, bus tickets and some help with their electricity, phone and gas bills. Sometimes, however, their needs are not as simple as that. This week we have had a number of clients who needed assistance with payment of their bills. Electricit