HOTHAM MISSION ASP UPDATEJune 2010
IN THIS UPDATE
- OVERVIEW
An overview of Hotham Mission ASP's current programs
- YOUR GIFTS AT WORK - OCTOBER 2009 TO MARCH 2010
Statistical summary of Hotham MIssion ASP's work with asylum seekers from October 2009 to March 2010
- CRITICAL NEEDS
Highlights critical needs at Winter 2010
- WINTER 2010 CRITICAL NEEDS APPEAL
Please help us provide shelter and support to the most vulnerable asylum seekers this Winter. Hotham Mission ASP needs $150,000 in end of tax year donations to give families and single people safety and security to go forward while they await the outcome of their protection claims
1. OVERVIEW
October 2009 to March 2010
Hotham Mission ASP works with the most vulnerable asylum seekers - children, women and men who have little or no income and face homelessness. Many struggle with physical or emotional trauma, isolation and mental illness. Some have endured periods of detention.
Hotham Mission ASP provides:
- professional casework support
- housing
- a basic living allowance (BLA)
- help with utilities and emergencies
- a volunteer program of one-to-one support (LinkUP)
- men's and women's support groups
- State and national policy advocacy
- research towards a better reception framework for the future
2. YOUR GIFTS AT WORK - OCTOBER 2009 TO MARCH 2010
In the six months October to March, Hotham Mission ASP:
- Provided casework support and services for 209 people from 26 countries, including 53 children
- Housed, or helped to house 88 people, who faced homelessness
- Provided a Basic Living Allowance, Food Vouchers and/or Emergency Relief to 79 people.
Hotham Mission ASP's supporting churches, donors and volunteers provided:
- 28 houses; and
- 35 LinkUp partnerships
Hotham Mission ASP operates at very low cost, thanks to in-kind support from Hotham Mission, UCA Share, UCA Funds, Our Community, and housing donors. We provide more than $2 million in services to asylum seekers annually, at an overhead cost of about $200,000. Almost all income has been from from public donations and philanthropic grants. Hotham Mission ASP's Annual Report for 2009 will be out shortly and available at our website. If you would like to order a printed copy please email asp@hothammission.org.au or call 03 9326 8343.
3. CRITICAL NEEDS
Housing costs, and funds for humanitarian appellant children and families
Hotham Mission ASP is the main provider of housing for the most vulnerable asylum seekers. Access to safe, affordable housing is the critical factor determining whether families and individual asylum seekers can escape severe poverty and further trauma, and go forward while they await the outcome of their claims for protection.
At the beginning of winter 2010, Hotham Mission ASP can't meet the demand for housing assistance because of: the escalating cash on-costs associated with donated housing; a growth in the number of cases where it would be appropriate to provide short term rent assistance rather than move a family or client; and severe stress on our capacity to provide case management for people in tenancies we also manage. Housing on-costs include moving and establishment costs and utilities. Among the most vulnerable are "humanitarian appellant" children. These are children of families who are lawfully appealing to the Minister for Immigration for leave to remain in Australia on humanitarian grounds. These children receive no government funded support, and those whose parents have not been able to get work may be completely without income and vulnerable to destitution.
Hotham Mission ASP has just published a major research report on "The Convention on the Rights of the Child as it applies to Humanitarian Appellant Children" and is leading negotiations with the Government to reform existing programs so that children will not be vulnerable to destitution. The Commonwealth Government is interested to ensure children do not suffer destitution, but they have not yet extended the assistance scheme to provide for these families.
4. WINTER 2010 CRITICAL NEEDS APPEAL
Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project serves the most vulnerable children, women and men who are living in the community while awaiting the outcome of their claim for protection. They are the 'most vulnerable' because they have no income, or because they have very, very little support coupled with the effects of trauma or illhealth, which makes their lives an even greater struggle.
Children of families appealing for protection on humanitarian grounds are among these. Karen's story, told briefly below, illustrates the experience of children with whom we work. In 2009 and early 2010, our researchers interviewed families with children so that we could put the case to government that under Australia's international commitment to uphold the rights of the child, the existing welfare schemes should be expanded to ensure that children are not left to suffer in this way.
Karen is a young woman now, 16 years old, who came to Australia seven years ago from Southeast Asia. She fled violence in her country with her father and a cousin. Like so many asylum seekers she was torn from dearest loved ones, grandparents, and her mother who had 'disappeared'.
Karen is a talented artist and netballer, and though she gets on at school, she has suffered isolation and difference because she is the only asylum seeker, and her family is extremely poor. Her father has trauma-related health issues and is not fit enough to work. They have a small income from her cousin's occasional work, which covers very basic necessities. Otherwise, Karen has relied on housing and food vouchers from Hotham Mission ASP, and help from friends. Hotham Mission ASP has also provided a Basic Living Allowance when her cousin has been without work. Without this combination of support, Karen's life in Australia would have included periods of homelessness and potentially hunger.
Also among the most vulnerable, are increasing numbers of, still young, single men. Single men are unlikely to qualify for either of the Department of Immigration funded programs, and are left to fend for themselves. Many will suffer severe hardship, isolation and poverty. They are technically allowed to find work, but face many barriers including language, lack of employment history, ineligibility for employment services, and short term visas that have to be regularly renewed. For those with short term visas, their understandable state of uncertainty, and sometimes severe trauma, mean they rarely get work and find it near impossible to afford or access somewhere to live.
TO DONATE ON-LINE NOW PLEASE CLICK HERE
TO FIND OUT HOW TO DONATE AND SUPPORT IN OTHER WAYS PLEASE CLICK HERE
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