One of the benefits that our club has with having a close relationship with IFYS is that Renee and Vicki keep us in close touch with whats happening in the community.
Many will have saw the fantastic work that was done over the past months at the Stadium "Hub" where various groups and organisations helped out the community during the initial COVID crisis. One particularly sensitive group to the COVID changes are the Sunshine Coast homeless. When the various SCC amenities were shut down for health reasons, The IFYS team swung into action to take care of the homeless who were now more vulnerable than ever.
On Friday Vicki went through some of the statistics, and perhaps one of the most emotional stats was that the team managed to house 40 kids during the past months who would otherwise be staying in cars, or in alleyways, or in tents in pretty ordinary conditions. Also concerning to hear that 371 folk were sleeping rough when the pandemic hit, heading into winter.
The team also found 146 temporary accommodations for hundreds of families and have delivered over 8,500 meals since April. A fantastic effort, and made possible by the IFYS team, many of the Outreach team working from 6am to 10 pm to make sure the less fortunate in our community had a roof over their head and some food on the table.
These statistics are impressive, but behind every statistic is a story and we were fortunate to have Terry, who spoke to the club about his experiences with homelessness, and how he had turned his life around. Terry's story was AMAZING. From a chap who had hit rock bottom and told that he "should be dead" from the doctors, he has managed to not only work with IFYS to "get clean" of addictive waits and have a permanent roof over his head, but has now set off on a "Teddy Bear" business.
Thank you Terry for sharing your story, and also Vicky and Renee and your colleagues for the fantastic work that they do,
