Our Melbourne colleagues Delroy Coelho and Srikanth Iyengar are active volunteers in St Augustine’s Church social outreach program, assisting refugees to establish a new life.
The duo tell us: “Refugees who have recently come out of detention centers, and who have been rehomed in Melbourne, generally don’t have the household necessities or finances or any personal connections to establish themselves.”
One Sunday each month, Delroy and Srikanth, along with other volunteers, collect goods from designated donation points, which they take to a central hub. There, these are sorted and reloaded into household lots, ready for delivery.
They also participate in distributing vouchers for local supermarkets so that families in need can buy food and clothing. Sometimes, simply chatting and spending time with the refugees to help them work through their challenges, makes a world of difference, they say. Few of us would disagree.