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Friends of the EMC Spring Newsletter

Spring is here and everyone is enjoying the warmer weather and the longer days. Winter has been a busy time at the EMC and a hard time for many of our guests. We have seen lunch numbers increase while the weekends continue to be very popular. We are pleased that the ACT Government has continued to fund our weekend opening hours therefore allowing us to remain open 7 days a week.

Thank you to all who donated during our End of Financial Year Appeal. We received some very generous donations during this appeal and we want to apologise for the delay in acknowledging these donations. There was a technical issue which has finally been resolved and supporters should now be receiving a timely thank you from the EMC.

Because of the increase in donations that we have received from our supporters we have been able to fund two new initiatives - daily fresh fruit when the Community Hub is open and regular life skill workshops - and we thank you all again for your generosity.

Our daily fresh fruit initiative is very popular with our guests. They have always enjoyed the fresh fruit salad at breakfast but providing a variety of fruit during the day has been warmly welcomed. The other new initiative involves holding life skills workshops which will be facilitated by groups such as Street Law and Care Financial. Several agencies already provide regular drop-in services to our guests when the Community Hub is open however these workshops will allow more in-depth discussion of issues. The first two workshops have already been held and were well attended.

Of course all our regular activities and services have continued every day despite the cold weather, especially the ever popular Pets in the Park vet clinics.

Feel Good Feed

Lunches are served in the Community Hub on weekdays using ingredients suppled by OzHarvest and bakery items donated by Ngunnawal Street Pantry. In addition, Feel Good Feed lunches continue to be held regularly, sponsored by a variety of organisations and individuals. They provide different food experiences for our guests, all of which are appreciated.

In June, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Helping ACT provided lunches, and in July lunches were provided by Humanity First and Hope Church. In August, ADFA, Hope Christian Church, Helping ACT and Independents for Canberra all cooked delicious meals.

Our Feel Good Feed lunches are very popular and we often get more than 50 guests at these lunches. As well, Helping ACT and Humanity First have cooked Friday night sausage sizzles outside the EMC which have been very welcome on our cold winter nights.

Volunteers from ADFA preparing a Feel Good Feed lunch.

Homelessness Week

Homelessness Week is an annual campaign organised by Homelessness Australia to build community support and government commitment to end homelessness. It is an opportunity to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of homelessness, to educate communities on how they can make a difference, and to highlight the solutions needed to make a change. Learn more on our website.

The EMC raised awareness of Homelessness Week by hosting a lunch provided by Helping ACT. We were pleased to welcome visits from two federal politicians during the week - Senator David Pocock and Alicia Payne, Member for Canberra. Thank you for your support, David and Alicia.

Here’s a link to Alicia’s speech in Parliament about her visit: aliciapayne.com.au/news/speeches/national-homelessness-week

Mohammed Ali from Helping ACT, EMC team member, Cherie, and Senator David Pocock.

EMC team members with Alicia Payne MP.

Special events

We held a special morning tea for our guests to celebrate NAIDOC Week in July, recognising the ongoing contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples. The Early Morning Centre acknowledges the way traditional owners have cared for the land from time immemorial and we are committed to building more just ways of living together.

We also had a special Feel Good Feed in June, hosted by Helping ACT for Refugee Week, which is Australia’s peak annual activity to inform the public about refugees and celebrate positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society.

EMC and Helping ACT team members with a special Feel Good Feed lunch for Refugee Week.

Winter support

A big thank you to our winter supporters!

Thank you to members of Canberra City Uniting Church who donate items each week for our emergency food packs, and for the extra-large donation made in July.

Thank you to Mr 10 and his family for donating more emergency food packs.

Thank you to Miss 8 and her family for more donations of items for our emergency food packs.

Thank you to the Yarabbi Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the large, generous donation of food items.

Thank you to Yarralumla Uniting Church for their ongoing support of the EMC and our guests.

Thank you to our supporter who recently donated dog food, sleeping bags and a warm winter coat.

Thank you to the father and son who donated items for 12 emergency food packs, in loving memory of their father and grandfather.

Thank you to one of our lovely breakfast volunteers, and one of our regular donors, for their generous donations.

Thank you to a new supporter for their generous donation of items for our emergency food packs and a sleeping bag.

Thank you to the residents of Kangara Waters IRT Group for the lovely donation of knitted items.

Thank you to our supporter, Joy, for the generous donations of warm winter coats, scarves and beanies for our guests.

Thank you to the couple who served a special Feel Good Feed lunch for our guests and big thanks to Helping ACT for their assistance. Our guests really enjoyed it.

Thank you to Mobilise, not only for the clothing provided for our guests, but also for the new tent they donated after hearing one of our guests' tents had been damaged.

And another thank you to Helping ACT for the amazing donation of beanies, gloves and doonas to help keep our guests warm over winter.

Finally, we would like to say a special thank you to everyone who supported our End of Financial Year Appeal, either by donating or sharing the appeal with friends and family. Your generosity and support is greatly appreciated!

Donation of beanies, gloves and doonas from Helping ACT.

What’s happening at the EMC?

Did you know you can view a schedule of the Community Hub activities and visiting services on our website? Check it out here.

We wish you all a happy spring season with lots of colour and life!

The Early Morning Centre is an activity of the Canberra City Uniting Church, with assistance from the ACT Government and the Commonwealth Government under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement.

We acknowledge the way the traditional owners have cared for this land from time immemorial and commit ourselves to building more just ways of living together with the First Peoples of this land.