Joanne Crowley began volunteering at St Vincent de Paul’s care and support centre to give back and stay busy, but her dedication has continued to grow. She is currently the organisation’s Wagga region president.
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How did you first get involved with Vinnies?
Probably about five years ago, when I moved house, I wanted to something more to do. One of the girls who works here said ‘why don’t you come down to St Vinnies’ and I thought ‘Vinnies is the shop and I don’t really want to work in the shop. I don’t like standing on my feet for hours and hours’.
And she said ‘no, no, no, it’s care and support. We give people food, have home visits, pay their bills, give them a hug..’. So I thought, alright and I came down and was thrown in the deep end, and that’s how I got into it. And I’ve enjoyed it.
I did not know that this (the Wagga care and support centre) existed.A lot of people don’t. When they come in here for the first time, they say ‘I didn’t even know about you, Mum told me to come’.
What sort of help does Vinnies offer through the care and support centre?
We help with lots of things, like energy assistance. We help pay – through the government – gas and electricity and Telstra also give us vouchers for its bills. We deal a lot with energy companies.
We keep hearing that people are struggling more. Is that true?
Yes. For example, we are getting a lot more domestic violence, where the women mainly are not putting up with it, although we do get the occasional man. When you have been kicked out of home, you usually have just the clothes on your back.
We see people who have just left jail, probably once a month, and they come here. They sometimes get a house or a flat and they have nothing to put in it.
It’s pretty tough.
How’s winter going?
Cold. We actually ran out of winter clothing at our shop. They had to get a truckload from Sydney full of winter clothes. That cost us some money to do that. We would have preferred to put that into support.
In the Winter Warmth appeal – every year it is great – we could have happily used a lot more.
It just continues. When a family needs warm clothing, for example, they might need four of this and four of that for everything and they’re just not getting a great lot there, so we’ve got to keep digging deep.
I think next year we’re going to need to do the appeal earlier. If we do it at the beginning of winter, it’s before people have gotten rid of their old clothes.
How is Vinnies coping in an era of online shopping and selling?
When people get rid of something now, when they think ‘oh I don’t like this’, whether it’s clothes, a bed or a cot or anything, they think 'oh, I don’t want this now’ and they take a photo, stick it on local buy, swap, sell and it’s gone the next day. Or ‘yours to take’ and get rid of it.
So I do think that does affect us a bit.
So, new challenges?
Yes, we’re going to have to get out there and maybe even put ‘wanted’ on these sites. You know ‘give it to charity, help a local person along’.
We actually ran out of winter clothing at our shop. They had to get a truckload from Sydney full of winter clothes.
- Joanne Crowley
How’s Micah House upgrade coming along?
We are going to be in there for Christmas, which we are very excited about. It’s more central to people.
You can go to Edel Quinn and get a meal and have a shower, but Micah House will be more ‘business like’.
Care and support will move into Micah House. So will NILS (no-interest loan scheme), which is very successful. I think we’re going to have room for people from Centrelink who might be able to come.
Often people who come in here are on Newstart. They live by themselves because they’ve had a tough life and don’t trust anyone else, and they’re getting not-quite-$600 a fortnight. Often they’re paying off some debts, and by the time they’ve paid their rent, there’s not much left.
You cannot run a car on $600 a fortnight, with the fuel and costs or live really well. You cannot afford to go out. It’s mainly stay at home, and that brings the bills in because they’ve got a heating bill because they can’t afford to go anywhere. It’s a big catch-22.
We don’t realise do we, how close any of us are to being in a difficult situation? Do we think of that enough? Do we plan for that enough?
No. I think when you’re in the workforce and you live at home for a while, you’ve got mum and dad, or a decent job and you know in your heart you’re sort of looked after for the future because you’re accruing super, and you’ve got that day-by-day money coming in, then you can afford to be a bit free with your money.
But when you’re on benefits – whether mum and dad have been on benefits or you’ve just lost your job and you haven’t been working long and you haven’t got a lot behind you – going from a job of $1000 a week to $600 a fortnight is devastating, and that’s when people can get very depressed.
It only takes one big bill doesn’t it? Or something unexpected?
Yes, and a lot of people don't know there are others out there who can help. That’s what Vinnies are for, along with the Salvation Army, Mission Australia... There are a lot of people who are there to help. So just ring up, just reach out.
What is the one thing you would like people to know about Vinnies?
That we are here and will listen. We will do anything to help. We don’t judge. We give you respect, and in turn we’d like your respect. We’re here to give you a hand up.
