By Casey Neill
“As much as this is a city with a lot of need, this is a city with a lot of capacity. People just need a hand sometimes, and a bit of hope.”
Dandenong Salvation Army Corps Officer Captain Stuart McGifford has delivered that hand and hope to Greater Dandenong for the past four years.
In January he’ll make his way to Alice Springs with his wife Nari and two children, aged 7 and 5, to start a new challenge with the Salvos.
“The Salvation Army has an appointments-based system,” he said.
It brought him to Dandenong in January 2013.
“I grew up in the northern suburbs and I worked around the north and western suburbs,” he said.
“I could barely find my way to Dandenong.
“My mother was worried about me moving here.
“She had nothing to worry about.”
Capt McGifford enjoyed great neighbours and being able to walk his children to school.
“The kids have thrived at school, and had amazing friends of all different backgrounds and cultural understandings,” he said.
“My kids are richer for the multiculturalism they’ve experienced here.
“We’re a bit anxious about the move because it’s the first one they’ll remember.
“They don’t remember moving to Dandenong, but they will remember leaving here because it’s a great place.”
Capt McGifford will hold his last church service on Christmas Day and a farewell barbecue on Tuesday 27 December.
“Then I’ll hook the caravan up and drive 2500 kilometres over two weeks,” he said.
“It’s certainly a big challenge.”
But one Dandenong has prepared him to handle. Asylum seeker arrivals were at their peak when he arrived.
“We were continually seeing people being released into the community with nothing,” he said.
“We just scrounged furniture and supplies.
“We threw open our welfare doors to asylum seekers and spent every last cent we could find.
“To see how positively so many of the asylum seekers and refugees contribute to society and get on with life and are generous and kind even though they have so little …
“I think they will be great Australians.”
Capt McGifford was tasked with laying the groundwork for a new Salvos Dandenong headquarters.
“That meant bringing our services together and getting them on the same page,” he said.
“It’s increased our capacity to respond to people in need.
“The permits have been sitting at council since late March.
“I can’t imagine the building being finished before the end of 2018.”
Claire Emmerton will take on Capt McGifford’s role from 1 March.
Husband and wife team Raek Bath and Elizabeth Kang will be her assistants, starting fresh from training college in January.
“We’ve recently begun the process of renaming our services under the name Project Hope,” Capt McGifford said.
“We exist to help people get out of poverty, not to be reliant on our services.
“The continued pursuing of this in Dandenong is critical to our success.”
