In for the long haul
June 14, 2021
According to Facebook, in 2011 I penned this: sometimes in life we need to venture out on our own in order to share the journey with others.
I mention this because according to another data source - Mailchimp - half a year has passed since I last wrote to you. It's understandable if you ask why such a long break between drinks.
There have been two significant things occupying our time at MCC Welfare Services: supporting people and reworking the Rainbow Tapestry project into a 5-year project.
To our regular and semi-regular donors, thank you! Your ongoing support has enabled us to assist people with housing, put food on the table, access medication and connect with others - either in person or via their phones. We are a very small organisation and we do what we can within the means available to us. Thank you for helping to remove barriers that prevent people from connecting.
As I experience life, I have more and more clarity that we are on the right path. Loneliness is going to be the next major social impact that will affect Australians - especially as we come to terms with the social and economic repercussions of COVID-19.
Documentaries including Older People's Home for 4 Year Olds (ABC), Rosemary's Way and See What You Made Me Do (SBS) seek to unpack isolation and loneliness. Characteristics common to the stories include:
• limited contact with others
• living alone or spending significant amounts of time alone
• a desire to connect however barriers are imposed by self or others
It is for this reason, we have reworked the Rainbow Tapestry project from 2018, into a 5-year project. The project aims to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic by connecting with LGBTIQA+ individuals to reduce social isolation through a service continuum model delivered by a qualified counsellor/social worker. The service continuum moves people from socially isolated to socially connected.
First though, we need seed funding to get the project off the ground. You can help by becoming a member, purchasing merchandise, making a one-off donation or setting up a regular direct debit.
Will you join with me for the long haul?
MCC Welfare Services presents Comedy for a Cause, a showcase of some of the best comedians from the Sydney and Melbourne International Comedy Festival in support of MCC Welfare Services.
Hello As cliched as this is, the older I get, the quicker time seems to fly! One minute I'm promoting our comedy fundraiser in 2024, the next we have passed 25 years in operation and onto the comedy night in 2025! That's right, a lot has happened in what feels like the blink of an eye. This year there are two events, which I would like to personally invite you attend. The first is our comedy fundraiser. This is the third time we have run each it so it could become an annual thing. Call me biased but nothing beats sitting in a room, surrounded by friends and new friends alike, chortling away as comedians tell joke after joke. Laughing is infectious and the more people around you laughing, the more you laugh. So don't just come along - invite your family and friends as well. Tickets are available at https://comedyforacause.net/event/MCC25/ . The second event that is coming up is the 50th anniversary dinner of Metropolitan Community Church Sydney. You may or may not already know that MCC Welfare Services came about because of like-minded people who attended the church. They ran opportunity shops and programs back in the 1990s and by the end of that decade, they had formalised what we now know as MCC Welfare Services. When you book your ticket, select 'MCC Welfare Services' as your connection to this event. Tickets are available at https://www.trybooking.com/1383311 . I do hope you can attend both events. Kind Regards Pj Dwyer President
We are once again partnering with Metropolitan Community Church Sydney to host a table for Christmas Day Lunch at Petersham RSL
GiveOUT Day was a day where the focus was on funding LGBTIQA+ organisations because, as the image above illustrates, more than half of our organisations, do not have paid staff. Shining a spotlight on this fact, and growing the pot of gold under the rainbow, was really important - including for MCC Welfare Services. It is with a heart full of gratitude that I am pleased to say we raised $475.00 in donations. If you were able to donate, I sincerely say thank you. This money will help us respond to assistance requests and save for our goal to employ a social worker / counsellor to help build social connection. Again, I say thank you - for GiveOUT Day and for your continued support.
Before I talk further about this day, I wanted to share something that happened to me personally last week - well more to the point, what happened as a result. Y ou may or may not know this but earlier this year I moved from Sydney to a regional city. Life has generally been really positive and has fed my soul, being surrounded by mountains and open blue skies. That all changed last week when something happened (the exact details don't matter) and the gloss came off. F or days I was very much in shock. I didn't want to get out of bed and in fact stayed there for longer than I can ever remember doing. I just wanted to hide. Y ou know what was interesting though? My experience of volunteering for MCCWS, reading and talking about loneliness, kicked in. My thought process kept me coming back to what I say regularly, its important to maintain connection to community. It was not easy but I did it. I made sure that each day I had something to look forward to doing. I went to a dinner group even though I had a nervous knot in my stomach that wouldn't release. I connected with family members and friends. S o GiveOUT Day means a lot - to me, to MCC Welfare Services, and in fact to every other organisation who has a project to be funded. G iveOUT Day was set up because LGBTIQ+ communities have access to less than 5c in every $100 of available resources. That's not even one percent! Give OUT is matching donations for the first $1,500 raised. If we raise this amount, it will automatically become $3,000 - or 30% of our target^. Can you donate? If it's possible, could you make a donation? If you are able to, please use the following link to donate. https://giveout.org.au/t/mccwelfareservices/
I have a favour to ask. Will you champion the Rainbow Tapestry project with me for Give OUT Day?
Please join us in congratulating Nic, who won our Friendship Day raffle.
Jackie Loeb, David Smiedt, Alex Jae and Sam Bowden form the line-up for our Comedy for a Cause event. Tickets available at https://comedyforacause.net/mccws Doors open at 7pm. If you cannot make the event, help us promote it by sharing this email, liking and sharing our posts on Facebook and Instagram or create your own social media post using the above link. Remember to include the hashtag #happyfriendshipday.
Win a games hamper, valued at $300, this International Friendship Day.
Comedy For A Cause presents a showcase of some of the best comedians from the Sydney and Melbourne International Comedy Festival in support of MCC Welfare Services. Corral your favourite fans for a night of fun and frippery - it's International Friendship Day after all! Buck the trend that, since the pandemic, no one wants to hang out in person anymore. Join us at Comedy for a Cause on Saturday, 30 July to celebrate International Friendship Day. Secure your tickets today at: https://comedyforacause.net/mccws .
