About Us

St Benedict’s Community Centre provides a place for people in our community to come for friendship, advocacy, support and a meal. St Benedict’s service is a co-operative initiative delivered jointly by Queanbeyan’s Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Uniting Church, Catholic Church, and Celebration Community.

St Benedict’s is highly regarded in the community and has provided free meals to those in need in Queanbeyan and region for over 15 years. Over this time the service has evolved into the provision of emergency relief services (including food parcels, brokerage, and advocacy) as well the provision of accommodation for homeless people.

Inspired by the life and witness of Jesus, St Benedict’s seeks to create a safe and welcoming place where the dignity of each guest and volunteer is respected, celebrated and nurtured through friendship and loving service.

  • St Benedict’s Vision, Mission, Principles and Values

    Our Vision is:

    That our community has a plentiful supply of housing, access to education (primary, secondary and tertiary), an abundance of nutritional food available without being demeaned, opportunities to work and participate in our community and access to health services (medical, mental etc.).

    Our Mission is:

    A local caring community where all are welcome in the spirit of Christ and are offered practical support and respectful relationships to change lives.

    Our Principles are:

    • Creating a caring and accepting place for all.
    • Filling the gaps through timely, flexible and creative responses tailored for the context.
    • Connecting people and resources and providers with purpose.
    • Building and sharing trust for mutual benefit.
    • Giving generously, and receiving with grace, what we offer each other.
    • Walking with each other to find a way through.

    Our Values are:

    • Justice
    • Meekness
    • Empowerment
    • Love
    • Healing
    • Equity
    • Hope
    • Giving
    • Forgiveness

  • What does St Benedict’s do ?

    St Benedict’s occupies a purpose build social services centre in Queanbeyan which it shares with HOME in Queanbeyan (a housing service for people with low to moderate mental health issues). The centre has meeting and training rooms, a dining room, commercial kitchen, and internet access. In addition to the provision of emergency relief this facility provides opportunities for marginalised people who may be at risk of homelessness to build social support and friendship networks in a safe and friendly environment. It also enables St Benedict’s to provide some skills training, work experience and mentoring for clients and others to enable them to increase their employability and obtain an employer reference.

    St Benedict’s provides a free nutritious meal 5 days a week in a large and comfortable dining area with a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. Because St Benedict’s provides meals it has become a focal point in Queanbeyan for people who are in crisis, or need accommodation, which in turn means it is ideally placed to intervene early in poor situations and stabilise them. St Benedict’s approach is to provide support to enable people to stabilise their lives and become self-reliant or to transition to ongoing support.

    St Benedict’s has long been recognised as the “service of last resort” in the Queanbeyan region because no-one is turned away. St Benedict’s staff are skilled at assembling an immediate response for people in crisis, be it, accommodation, food parcels, household items, paying bills, cash or referrals, with the objective of keeping them safe and sustaining them until a permanent solution can be found.

    St Benedict’s service delivery model connects people to services that support them back into the community, the workforce and to health care so they can decrease, or move permanently away from, on-going dependence on welfare. St Benedict’s practice is to work with its clients and other agencies to support them until a sustainable solution is found. St Benedict’s will know that it has achieved its desired outcomes because the client will no longer require its help because they will have transitioned to another agency or be living in sustainable accommodation.

  • St Benedict’s Charter

    A local caring community where all are welcome in the spirit of Christ and are offered practical support and respectful relationships to change lives.
    To be part of this community we commit, together with you, to:

    • Work to make sure you receive the best possible assistance to:
      • Establish and maintain a home.
      • Participate in a meaningful way in the community, learning, working and sharing life together.
    • Work in a manner that dignifies and respects each member of this community in their uniqueness and differences, embracing the diversity implied by gender, religious, cultural, or linguistic backgrounds, sexual orientation, age, disability or family status, etc.
    • Respect personal privacy and confidentiality.

    As an inclusive and welcoming community, we:

    • Will work with you in seamless and wholistic manner to determine your needs. This could include case management, planning and grounded practical interventions in a way that suits you.
    • Match available resources from St Benedict’s and other existing services to your needs. We work to overcome the barriers and gaps that are encountered in your life to bring about transformation and change.
    • Encourage active participation in decisions that affect you individually and that affect the operation of St Benedict’s.
    • Expect honest and accurate information that lead to open, trusting and effective relationships. This will help achieve the outcomes you need.
    • Encourage feedback/complaints when things don’t work well; and insight into your experience when things go well. All feedback will be used to improve our relationships, our way of working, and the outcomes you desire.

    St Benedict’s is a safe place for everyone. To make this happen, we:

    • Ensure safety and health regulations are met.
    • Respect each other in word and deed.
      • Use kind words and actions that promote acceptance, hope and welcome.
      • All are welcome and included, however behaviour that affects the safety and well-being of others (guests, volunteers and staff) can sometimes lead to exclusion for a period of time. After this, you can choose to be welcomed back.
    • Respect the rules.

  • St Benedict’s Strategic Priorities

    1. Philosophy and Culture – What we are about

    We aim to provide a healthy community place where our guests are supported and empowered to achieve independence.

    Our priorities are to:

    • Identify and understand our guest’s needs.
    • Offer services that are effective, accessible and professional.
    • Remain faithful to our values.

    2. Painting the Picture – Vision of where we are going

    We aim to identify and communicate guest needs to our partners and deliver food, shelter, advocacy and community services to meet the needs of those guests.

    Our priorities are to:

    • Maintain flexible work practices that respond to changing guest needs.
    • Coordinate our services with those of our partners.
    • Operate to our capacity delivering quality outcomes.
    • Enrich the lives of those involved with St Benedict’s Community Centre.

      • 3. Stakeholders – Our relationships

      We aim to maintain positive, constructive relationships with our partners and guests to optimise coordination and address service demands.

      Our priorities are to:

      • Maintain positive working relationships with our stakeholder networks.
      • Establish partnership agreements where appropriate.
      • Explore opportunities for new partnerships.
      • Coordinate with our partners to respond to guest needs.
      • Enhance relationships through regular meetings between the Coordinator of St Benedict’s Community Centre and the Manager of HOME in Queanbeyan.
      • Foster close relationships between St Benedict’s and Government and non-Government organisations working to support homeless and disadvantaged people in our community.
      • Ensure a strong reputation, role and brand in the community, local businesses and services sector.

      4. Capacity – A sustainable business model

      We aim to maintain our existing range of services while deepening our capacity to comprehensively address guest needs.

      Our priorities are to:

      • Achieve financial sustainability by increasing the number, value and diversity of funding sources and their reliability.
      • Secure pre-commitments from our supporters.
      • Exercise prudence in the use of financial resources.
      • Build the skills and capacity of our staff and volunteers.
      • Improve our recruitment, induction and training processes.
      • Secure volunteer commitment through increased numbers and improved engagement and rostering arrangements.

      5. Governance – Sound, compliant business processesWe aim to implement sound business processes to effectively and efficiently manage our assets, operations, staff and volunteers, risks and finances to legislative, regulatory and community standards.

      Our priorities are to:

      • Ensure Board membership and consultancies reflect expertise required.
      • Establish and implement a policy and procedural framework.
      • Improve workplace procedures and practices.
      • Develop and implement an improved WHS system.
      • Implement risk treatments identified in the risk management plan.
      • Implement sound financial, records and administrative practices.
      • Achieve financial reporting compliance through an annual external audit of accounts.
      • Achieve compliance with NSW Department of Family and Community Services grant conditions and audit requirements.
      • Present accurate financial accounts to the Board each month.
      • Ensure our insurances are appropriate and current.

      6. Services – How we help others

      We aim to provide a range of services that collectively meet the needs of our guests while tailoring those services to meet the individual needs of each guest.

      Our priorities are to:

      • Provide tailored services to more than 500 guests each year.
      • Improve the levels of pro-bono professional support available to guests
      • Ensure an abundance of nutritional food for guests.
      • Provide basic personal needs to guests such as food, showering and laundry.
      • Assist a high percentage of guests in need to find suitable housing.
      • Provide access to education services at levels appropriate to the guest.
      • Provide access to health services to meet guest needs.
      • Provide opportunities for volunteers and guests to work and participate in our community.

  • Who are St Benedict’s clients and what are their needs ?

    While much of Queanbeyan and surrounding areas rank as advantaged there are significant pockets of poverty. St Benedict’s assists people who:

    • are homeless or at risk of homelessness;
    • have mental health issues and/or are substance dependent;
    • are on low incomes who are struggling with the cost of living and need assistance with rent, electricity, gas, and telephone bills, medical expenses and food;
    • have low levels of formal education who may find it difficult to, and need assistance with, accessing services.

  • What has St Benedict’s achieved to date ?

    In FY 2017-18 St Benedict’s and its partners delivered:

    • 15,184 hot meals and 3,082 food parcels
    • 5,806 bed nights in short-term or emergency accommodation and 759 bed nights of long term accommodation

  • How much do St Benedict’s services cost to provide ?

    St Benedict’s has over 60 active volunteers in its kitchen and is also supported by the provision of surplus food from local food rescue services This means that the vast majority of donations are directed to assisting clients in the form of accommodation, food parcels, and other needs.

    St Benedict’s is highly efficient. In FY 2017-18 it spent approximately $12,000 directly purchasing food which it leveraged into 15,184 highly nutritious meals with a “street” value of approximately $230,000.