Appeal & Donations - Christmas Appeal 2009

A Christmas Eve Story

A lovely man rang our crisis centre on Christmas Eve (2008) to find out how he could help. I gave him a list and he went right out and bought everything that was on the list. At that time there was still no Christmas trees in the refuge for the children. When the children saw the trees they were screaming with excitement, and began immediately to rip open the boxes to begin decorating the trees. One little boy said when he received his present that it had been the best Christmas he had ever had.

Thank you to everyone who gives food and financial donations to help with our families in the crisis centre. I know that many church families were struggling this year yet our donations were very generous. Thank you for being Jesus to these wee children. Because of your generosity you have made many families feel that the refuge is like a home.

Alice's Story

Jacaranda Cottage is a refuge for young women aged 16-20 years who are homeless or at risk. Jacaranda Cottage provides a safe and supportive place for young women to deal with issues and move forward into independent living. Our vision is to impart hope, facilitate restoration and celebrate transformation in the lives of our clients.

Recently we celebrated transformation in the life of a client who has been with us for 18 months. Her name is Alice. Alice came from a family where her mother was mentally ill and life at home was unpredictable. Alice came to Jacaranda Cottage aged 16, in the middle of year 11 at school, with the hope of having a stable place to complete her HSC.

Despite many barriers, Alice has shown great courage and strength to sit her HSC exams. As she is drawing near to the end of her stay at Jacaranda, Alice expressed a desire to do something symbolic to represent her journey. We held a 'breakfree' day for Alice, similar to those on the Biggest Loser tv show. We set a day aside to take time to reflect with Alice on her journey over the last 18 months. Alice is very creative so we encouraged her to create a painting of her journey. After that, Alice wrote down some things she wanted to let go of and leave behind and then burned them. Then the staff each gave Alice a letter of encouragement that reflected on her growth at Jacaranda. To top it all off we surprised Alice with a visit from her brother to witness her skydive. In the skydive Alice decided to leave baggage from her past in the plane and jump into a new freedom. The day was a really moving and exciting celebration of Alice's transformation.

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