HOW TO DONATEHotham Mission ASP relies on donations, philanthropic grants and 'gifts of housing', to help asylum seekers who are living legally in our community but who face destitution.
- DONATIONS
How to donate now on-line or by phone; how to donate by cheque; how to set up a regular donation
- WINTER 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 a semblance of safety and security to go forward while they await the outcome of their protection claims.
- GIFTS IN KIND
How to donate useful things like Metcards and Phone cards
- HOLD A FUNDRAISER
1. DONATIONS
How donations are used
The Asylum Seekers Project (ASP) provides these poorest children, women and men, with housing places, Basic Living Assistance (a barest cash allowance), help with medical and living emergencies, and a utilities relief rung. ASP also provides referrals, outreach support, link-up programs and women's and men's support groups. ASP advocates and lobbies on behalf of the people it serves.
- $10 will help a family cope with those small emergencies that can break you or slowly break you down, for lack of just small amounts - medicine, a child's school excursion, a Zone 1 and 2 Metcard to reach a processing or legal help appointment, a phone card to reach a loved one.
- $33 provide a weekly Basic Living Allowance to a man or woman who is seeking asylum and can have no other income.
- $99 will provide a weekly Basic Living Assistance to a single parent and two children.
- $200 will help a family pay a quarterly electricity and gas bill
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.
CHRISTAMAS APPEAL THANKYOU
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated so generously during Hotham Mission ASP's Christmas Appeal 2009. Your donations allowed us to extend services to clients who had been referred for help but whom we been unable to help prior to November. Final figures for the appeal will be anounced shortly.
TO DONATE ONLINE PLEASE CLICK HERE
3. GIFTS IN KIND
Please phone 03 9326 8343 for advice and information on current needs
Needs include:
- Metcards: as asylum seekers on Bridging Visa E cannot get concessions. Full Fare Daily Zone 1 or Daily Zone 1+2 are most useful.
- Phonecards: for international and local calls, available from many Milkbars and other outlets, check for cheaper cards for Africa, Middle East, South and South East Asia.
4. HOLD A FUNDRAISING EVENT
Please phone 03 9326 8343 to discuss your event or fundraising idea
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