Redland Community Centre has received a hand up to continue supporting the region’s homeless, having secured a $10,000 COVID-19 Emergency Grant from Hand Heart Pocket the Charity of Freemasons Queensland.
The grant will fund additional administrative assistance to help the Homeless United team to cope with the rise in case management brought on by the pandemic.
Redland Community Centre CEO Allison Wicks said this would make a significant difference for the Centre which has been operating on skeleton staff ever since social distancing restrictions had come into effect several months ago.
“The Centre has remained open throughout the pandemic in order to provide homeless support services for those doing it tough and what we’ve seen is a huge spike in demand for help,” Ms Wicks said.
“Sadly, our team of volunteers aren’t back on site to help us out so this additional admin support will help us to get through both the face to face and phone assessments, to get people the help they need.”
Redlands Freemasons Lodge Secretary Ken Rose said they nominated the local organisation for the grant.
“The Homeless United team has responded to this urgent need within the community and are so very deserving of this grant,” Mr Rose said.
Hand Heart Pocket Chief Executive Officer Gary Mark said the charity was focused on assisting its existing charity partners and working with Freemason Lodges to increase support at a grassroots level during the Coronavirus pandemic.
“So far, Hand Heart Pocket has provided over $750,000 in COVID-19 emergency support and Grassroots Community Grants to charities across Queensland during the pandemic,” Mr Mark said.
“Redland Community Centre provides an essential service for the region, and we are glad we could provide this extra support at a time when they needed it the most.”
Photo: Redland Community Centre Board Chair Chris Webster, Redlands Freemasons Lodge representatives Romeo Asa, Billy Cupples and Ken Rose alongside Redland Community Centre Operations Manager Rachel Wicks.
