Bursting at the seams – a new home for Lou’s Place

Lou’s Place is very excited to announce a Capital Campaign to raise funds for a larger, more suitable permanent home,  so that we can double the number of women we care for. 21 years ago, Lou’s Place opened in our warm, homey terrace house on Victoria Street, Kings Cross. Our terrace has not only been a symbolic home for many of our clients, but it has allowed us to provide a safe, supportive place for women in need, while helping them to heal and rebuild their lives. 

Sadly, our increasing client numbers have meant that we’ve really outgrown our terrace, and almost daily we have to put a sign on the door that Lou’s is full. This is hearbreaking, but we always find a way to see those in acute distress. However, it shouldn’t be this way. To continue with our mission, we are looking for larger premises to enable more women to access our case managers, resources, and therapeutic programmes. We also need to offer more accessible premises for our older and less able clients, who struggle with our steep internal stairs. Up to 20,000 women are homeless on any night in Sydney (ABS Census 2016) and this number continues to grow. We need to be able to help more vulnerable women in our community. COVID-19 has significantly impacted these women, not only with homelessness, but also mental health issues, domestic violence, unemployment, substance abuse and suicide.

Please join our campaign in whatever way you can. We have raised over 70% of the funds needed to purchase a new home, but we need more donations to get us across the line. Every contribution makes a difference. If you know an individual, foundation or family trust who may be interested in supporting our campaign, please contact Jacinta Clark, Capital Campaign Manager, and a Marmalade Foundation member. We would love to hear from you!

Email:  Jacinta@lousplace.com.au 

Home Sweet Home

For Homelessness Week (2 – 8 August), Lou's Place worked with the theme 'Home Sweet Home,' calling for a home for every homeless woman in our community. With the assistance of Sophie Cox, an embroidery artist, and a team of volunteers, 25 artworks were embroidered and sent to State Parliamentarians, the Governor of NSW and the Sydney Lord Mayor. 

We were thrilled that the Premier, the Lord Mayor and the Governor of NSW supported our work and posted pictures of themselves with their embroidered piece.  Other state parliamentarians also got involved, including our local MP Alex Greenwich, and Bronnie Taylor, the Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women. This work has significantly raised the profile of Lou's Place on social media. More importantly, it has helped us keep women's homelessness front and centre in the minds of our decision makers.

We used embroidered pieces as we believe that the time, and love that goes into each piece makes homelessness harder to ignore. It’s also a good fit for Lou's Place given the many art and craft activities we run. 'Craftivism' or 'slow protest' is becoming more popular worldwide While it’s certainly easier to sign a petition online, some say it’s easier to ignore. With each piece of craft taking at least 3 hours to sew and assemble, the dedication and hard work of our community is indeed difficult to ignore!

Shortly after Homelessness Week, our General Manager, Nicole Yade, was called to State Parliament as an expert witness in the inquiry into the Protocol for Homeless People in Public Places. Nicole discussed homelessness as a gendered issue and called for more social housing and services to support women who have experienced complex trauma, including improved supports for women with mental illness and addiction. ‘Home Sweet Home’ is something that everyone in our community deserves.

L - R: Lord Mayor Clover Moore, ‘Home Sweet Home’ embroidered artwork by Sophie Cox, New South Wales Governor Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley.

Lou’s Place welcomes our new patron

Lou’s Place welcomes The Governor of NSW, her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AO, QC, as our new Patron. The Governor has had an extraordinary career, grounded in her commitment to human rights, social justice and service to the people of NSW. There is no one who better personifies our values or mission. 

The Governor has always made an effort to better understand the issues facing women experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges in our community. The Governor visited Lou’s Place soon after her appointment. She toured the service and sat with a group of Lou’s clients, asking them about their lives, and what had brought them to Lou’s. She was interested in their stories and what services and programmes Lou’s clients had found most helpful.

 Like all of us, the Governor has had to pivot and re-imagine how she navigates her appointment. Recently, she invited Nicole Yade, general manager, and Alexa Haslingden, the Chair of The Marmalade Foundation, to a Zoom Catch up. She asked by name about each woman she had met at Lou’s, and what we were seeing at the coal face during the pandemic.  With this kind of empathy and intellectual curiosity, we know our new patron will make a difference during her appointment. We are so grateful to be included in her patronages.

Our marvellous kitchen volunteers

We all know that at Lou’s Place our volunteers are our heart and soul. The incredible dedication of a small group during our initial lockdown in Sydney has been a most poignant indicator of their compassion.

As everything closed around us, Lou’s remained open.  Everyone was pivoting to try to manage as well as possible.  A small team of regular cooks, some with their families assisting, were the answer to being able to continue our essential lunch service.  Our COVID-19 cooking team prepared beautiful meals and packaged them in take-away containers.  The staff distributed meals from the front door, often giving several meals to encourage and enable our women to stay home as much as possible.  Extra meals were frozen to keep our stocks up. Cooks worked in Lou’s kitchen every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

So, to those kitchen volunteers, a huge and heartfelt thanks for their steadfastness, bravery and the vital nourishment that they provided.  And to everyone who has reached out with offers of help, thank you! As we continue to open up and bring more classes and services back into Lou’s Place, we need you now more than ever!

Lou’s Place art and writing competition

Lou’s Place would like to extend congratulations to Fiona, Sonia, Tara, Claire and Angelina as the winners of our 2020 Art and Writing Competition. Entries included poetry, autobiography, and a chapter of a book. We thank everyone for taking the time to share their insight, experience and beautiful messages. 

WOMEN

Women are wonderful, wild, wilful, whimsical at times. 
Women are tender, gracious, thoughtful at times. 
Women are strong, fierce and full of life. 

Women are special and go through lots.
We support, guide, care and sometimes want to hide. 
Women get hurt, ignored, mistreated, abused and contrived.

Women find love and hope to give life. 
Women are peacemakers, we can smile through pain. 
Women can also be a pain, but they smile through that and find peace again. 

If you know a woman, be so grateful for that.
Give her a smile, hug, love and some light in her life. 

Tara, April 2020

Kindness Calls

Nicole Yade, general manager of Lou’s Place, initiated ‘Kindness Calls,’ to help our clients cope with the isolation of COVID-19.  The calls have enabled Lou’s Place volunteers to stay in touch with clients, and they give some comfort to the many vulnerable women currently unable to access the service.  Volunteers have been trained and then paired with a client for twice-weekly phone conversations. It has been a simply wonderful experience for both volunteers and clients.  

From her response, I know she hugely appreciates the time we spend on the phone, when we can share thoughts, ideas and even swap recipes.  We talk a great deal about music, which we both love. I have even been able to teach her some simple things, which is something quite unique for me, as a music teacher used to “in person” students. But, with her little keyboard, she is learning to play simple melodies which bring her great pleasure. I listen over my phone as she proudly plays what she has practised.  What she does is remarkable for one with severe disabilities, and she is thrilled, but not as thrilled as I am.  For me, Kindness Calls have been an unparalleled way of supporting the women who come to Lou’s Place and one which has been mutually rewarding.

Carol, Volunteer

Handmade face masks

Jennie, a volunteer who usually runs a weekly sewing class at Lou’s, has been making face masks for staff and clients. She has been using her own material supplies, but as many people have begun making masks at home, Jennie has had difficulty sourcing elastic. She said,

“Luckily we did a road trip a few weeks back and I bought a few more packets in Gunnedah. I think I’ve made close to 100 but I’ve lost count, I just sew a few every couple of days and drop them in to Lou’s.”

Many thanks, Jennie, for your beautiful handiwork!

Calm Together

Calm Together is a series of trauma-informed relaxation sessions for Women which began in March as a response to COVID-19. The daily relaxation sessions are conducted by Lou's Place staff members, and focus on different aspects of movement, breath, and mindfulness. Its intention is to provide an opportunity to calm, ground and connect with ourselves as well as our community. These brief sessions have been created specifically with beginners in mind. 

Calm Together is open to the entire Lou’s community - friends, colleagues, workers, clients, and their families. Lou’s Place is also an accredited Work and Development Order (WDO) provider. Clients can therefore access Calm Together to complete their WDO as an alternative to paying off their fines. This is significant because many services acting as WDO providers have closed during COVID-19, making it difficult for clients to complete their WDO. Calm Together has had such a positive impact for many, and one client has enthusiastically declared that ‘GRATITUDE is my new ATTITUDE!’

Calm Together runs from Monday to Friday at 2:00 pm via teleconference.
Simply call:  1800 556 264.   Password:  27 11 571# 

A Woman’s Worth

We are currently preparing for the third round of A Woman’s Worth, a 4-week online domestic violence education group facilitated by case worker Brianna. The course adapts our regular face-to-face Women, Choice & Change group so that we can continue to offer it during COVID-19.

The course covers topics such as warning signs, the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships, what violence looks and feels like, boundaries, communication, self-esteem and self-care. The group has been a great success, with 27 women completing the course to date. This course has attracted a diverse range of clients to Lou’s Place, including women we don’t often see at the centre. Some of these women are housed and are in long-term, stable employment. We have welcomed numerous new referrals from domestic violence court services, rehab centres, as well as self-referrals.

As a response to the domestic violence education provided, some women have made the big decision to leave their relationships. Many of the participants in the most recent round of A Woman's Worth are going on to complete another online well-being group, The Upward Spiral, currently in its second round. Brianna commented that for the clients who successfully complete one course, and then enrol in another, it’s a clear indication of how much they are enjoying and benefiting from these online groups.

Accommodation for Lou’s clients

As COVID-19 has seen a significant shift in the way we work, Lou’s Place volunteered to work with Neami National, The Department of Family and Community Services and Justice, as well as Housing NSW, to find safe, permanent accommodation for Lou’s clients.

Neami is a community-based organization that provides services to improve mental health and wellbeing in local communities. With over fifty new referrals since the beginning of COVID-19, staff have welcomed this collaboration, supporting long-term rough sleepers to navigate the multitude of services and systems required to find accommodation.

On Thursday 30 July, we held an Open Day for our new community members, providing them with self-care packages. One client commented that she really appreciated learning more about the services that Lou’s Place offers. Another client said that time spent with staff and volunteers helped to ease her social anxiety.

The relationships that Lou’s Place has built with these organizations, provides assurance that we will be able to continue to support our clients in their search for permanent accommodation.

A note from our social work students

We are truly humbled by the strength and resilience of the women who come to Lou’s Place, as well as the dedication of the staff and volunteers who support them and coordinate the therapeutic programmes. We have not only had the opportunity to apply our skills and knowledge, but equally we’ve been able to learn from the stories and experiences shared by Lou’s clients. We can only imagine what the house would be like, full of interesting groups and fun activities! We have learned so much and cannot thank Lou’s Place enough for the learning opportunities provided. Finally, a big thank you to Nicole, general manager, and her dedicated team for their continuing support of the women who access the service.

We wish you all the best!

Kind Regards, 
Harshita and Elizabeth
Social Work Students