G’day everyone.
I am writing this blog post to let you know that my family and I are going to be homeless. Yes, that means our 3yr old, 7 yr old and 10 yr old and my partner as well. Understandably, we are slightly anxious about this. Not having a roof over our heads is going to be a real challenge. Thankfully, there are some kind people at Soul Café in Newcastle, Australia, who are going to provide a safe place for us to sleep and will share at least one meal with us.
What I am even more thankful about is that this state of ‘homelessness’ is not permanent… It is only going to be for 1 night on the 15th of June.
Phew!
But, there are people in our Newcastle community for which homelessness is a day to day fear and reality. There are an overwhelming number of people who have no safe place to sleep and are unable to meet essential daily needs. A recent report numbered the homeless in our city/region at over 1,700 persons.
My partner and I believe that it is up to people like us to care for our family of humans on the margins. We believe that together, we have the power to make real changes to the lives of others through acts of love. Through our network at Ignite Community Newcastle, we have made connections to amazing people and organisations. One of these is Soul café.
Soul Café operate a service that feeds, clothes, supports and nurtures our brothers and sisters on the margins who often quite literally have nothing. If it wasn’t for Soul Café and the volunteers that give physical and emotional care to these people, they would likely go hungry or be stuck in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness. Soul Cafe are the real hands and feet of God in our community, sharing love and giving from our overflow so that others may share in the plenty.
So, to the point of my message; My family and I are sleeping ‘rough’ for 1 night to raise awareness and money for the work of Soul Café. We would love for you to consider donating to this worthy cause. Personally, I admire the people that can give of their time but, that is not something that I can share on a regular basis. What I can do though is give financially so that others may continue in this good work.
Please consider supporting the Ignite Community Newcastle ‘Sleep out Team’ by donating at this link:
https://www.mycause.com.au/page/171637/ignite-community-newcastle.
Any money donated is tax deductable.
You can also visit the Soul Café website here to learn more about the organisation and the people that they (and you) care for.
We’ll have photos and news after the event so stay posted to the Ignite social media streams here: (Facebook) and here: (Instagram).
If you would like to get involved and raise money among your own social network, get in touch to find out more.
Thanks heaps for your time.
