A new hope

Rosies is blessed to have such a wonderful diversity of volunteers. Bachar and Emil, Christian Syrian refugees  arrived in Toowoomba less than a year ago. They happily joined Rosies to make a difference in their adoptive country. Bachar and Emil come to outreach every Friday to spend time with our friends on the street. It is a great joy having them among us in Toowoomba. On another note the branch farewells one of its founding members, Annette.  Annette and her husband David are relocating to where the fish are biting. We will miss them.

Meanwhile, Rosies Ipswich branch held their volunteer Recognition Ceremony. Awards were presented by Mark from the Board of Rosies. The team welcomed  Costa Georgiadis from gardening Australia on outreach. Costa made himself available to all. Many of our friends on the street asked him questions and took photos with him. Costa was quite impressed with how the Rosies team interacted with not only himself as a guest but also the patrons. He shook everybody’s hand before leaving.

There were a few social events across the branches in the last few days. On the Gold Coast, the Rotary Carousel Broadbeach invited our coordinator, Kathleen for a talk. Rotary made a donation to the branch for the purchase of lights and folding benches at the new outreach venue on Hamilton Avenue, Southport. In Wynnum Manly the Rosies team met with our friends at Wellington Manor. The retirement village has been supportive of the local branch from the beginning.  On the Sunshine Coast Rosies Coordinator, Carolyn was invited to present the work of Rosies within the community at the Glasshouse Country VIEW Club.

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“Every setback is a set-up or a come back”

Today we had an inspiring meeting with one of our longtime friends Chris. He and Rosies met in Brisbane 28 years ago. Since then Chris has started his own lawn mowing company- Chris’ Lawns & Green Garden Waste Removal – on the Gold Coast. He has 60 clients and encourages everyone to have goals. He keeps coming to Rosies for the friendship.

Chris started mowing to help out a friend. He did such a good job other people offered him to look after their gardens. With the money he earned Chris bought a mower, then another one, then a van and later a trailer. He lived in his van for a while but now he rents.

Chris keeps coming to Rosies for the friendship. He enjoys a chat and likes to share his experience with others so they can believe in themselves like he did. Chris occasionally offers casual work to our patrons when he gets enough projects to work on.

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Sharing friendship one haircut at the time

Jamey-Lee offering her time and talents at the Rosies drop-in centre

Jamey-Lee is a hairdresser and a generous soul. She gives her time and talent to our many friends on the street on the Gold Coast. She comes to our Drop In Centre with all her gear on the second Thursday of every month and offers free haircuts to our delighted patrons. Her impact is simply amazing! Plus, it offers yet another opportunity to engage with our friends through conversations. People like to share their stories and point of views on various topics while their getting their hair cut. For Jamey-Lee it is an eye-opening experience. She is very much appreciated by the Rosies family.

Some students and teachers joined our outreaches as part of our Student Engagement Program. As such a group of students from Iona College in Wynnum visited our branch in Cairns and took part inthe local outreach with their teachers despite it being school holidays. They could have been involved in some more fun activities over this period, but instead they chose to be present with Rosies in the midst of our friends on the street in Cairns.

In Brisbane our coordinator Sarah was invited to morning tea at the Delamore Retirement Community. Sarah explained what Rosies was all about to the residents who were thrilled to have a look at the van. Our coordinator also broke up a few stereotypes about homelessness. Earlier, residents held a craft stall and raised some funds to support Rosies and our many friends on the street. Thank you all so much for your kindness and generosity.

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