Pozhet asked Manager Colleen Neville about the last two years.
We kept pretty busy at The Haven remaining in contact with our regular clients. The Haven remained open all along because we provided food assistance with The Pantry. This allowed us to have people coming by appointment whether for food or other assistance that we couldn’t provide remotely. We were also busy with delivering grocery hampers for people in isolation, or those without work. We lost a few volunteers along the way for various reasons so Sharon and I had plenty to keep up with.
We followed rules and advice from Health throughout and as soon as we were allowed we re-opened again on Mondays to Fridays for drop-in, whether that be for shopping, internet access, lunch or just some company and a chat.
We get our fresh Pantry stock in every Wednesday, so the best time for clients to shop is Wednesdays after lunch and on Thursdays and Fridays.
We still provide pick up and drop off from Blacktown Station and can also drop people home with shopping if they live locally and arrange it with us prior to visiting. Transport for medical appointments is available also.
A light lunch is on offer each day if we have people in the Centre but our main lunch day is Friday and this has a charge of $4; the meal could be anything from a home-cooked meal, a catered lunch, a bbq or fish and chips from the local shops. We play it by ear, mostly depending on what volunteers we have and how many people we think we’d be expecting. People don’t have to let us know if they are coming, but if there are a few people wanting to come together, it’s preferable that we know what numbers to expect. If you can, get in touch by calling The Haven on 02 9672 3600.
All visitors are very welcome with no rules or restrictions for visitors. We’d love to see many more faces come through other than just our regular clients. The only rules here are for all staff and volunteers to be vaccinated as per NSW Health requirements.