Matthew Talbot Improves Services

Matthew Talbot Hostel - Google Maps http://bit.ly/96ElEd

Government and Corporate Funded Vinnies Matthew Talbot Hostels recent change of Chef has brought a quantum improvement to the levels of client satisfaction with the food services at that facility.Glowing reports of food quality have been trickling back to us- we looked, and liked the improvements very much.This now makes Vinnies,whose foodvans also provide light snacks at 4 points in the city,the premium provider of free food services for homeless and marginalised MEN in the city. Matthew Talbot still cling to the curious notion that women and children don't get hungry.Their refusal to provide meals for women children and families is a blight on the doubtless foisted on the poverty industry by its government funding obligations.Despite the high quality of food we won't eat where women and children can't,noting that even hotels allow kids to dine in.
 We checked out the spacious well stocked library which seems well used,doubtless another government funding program.
 The showers available to the homeless were generally quite clean,but the facility has a curious rule of only issuing a small number of towels daily.Guys were seen selecting from a pile of used towels in order to have showers. Testing showed water appropriately warm and working for a reasonable duration.
 As well as its own health services the usual bevy of outsource services such as legal advice and "mental health services" provide outreach services.

 There is an attached computer centre under the badge of "Ozanam" a sister Catholic poverty industry brand. Hardware is consistent with some of the older public facilities in the city.The guys gush over the 5 week course they are about to do (government funded) in return for about $1200 in extra income support payments. Many are planning to use the money to fund a career in drug dealing. Another cash throwaway from the rhetoric based Rudd government.(We note Prime Ministers use the Talbot as a Photo op on a regular basis). Training is outsourced to TAFE and is NOT linked to jobs at the end of the course.Software is dated and Microsoft.In contrast,our unfunded,FREE one day course took 163 people successfully off the streets permanently in just 7 months last year, driving self employment.We don't rate people as successful until they are earning $1300 per week in retained income.A further 32 have become successful in the first 2 1/2 months of this year.

A history of Matthew Talbot Hostel can be found at "The Matthew Talbot Hostel. - Free Online Library http://bit.ly/cWsKtE " We note that in 1991 the hostel regularly accommodated over 400 men under the direction of Ray Burke.Today,despite hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars,they accommodate 120.
 Meals used to be paid until a television channel sponsor indignantly threatened to withdraw funding if meals were not given free. As well as receiving copious streams of State and Federal government funding the Talbot has access to Oz Harvest,a MacQuarrie Bank funded service which collects food from retailers for Marginalised services (Free) and Foodbank,which supplies near end of shelf life food at very little cost.

 Despite this vast improvement in services,Vinnies and Matthew Talbot are still regarded as exploiters of homeless and Marginalised people.Their services and advisements to government (both directly and via ACOSS / NCOSS) have the primary purpose of driving Vinnies funding programs, not ending marginalisation.For example,the Society of St Vincents de Paul (NSW) were one of the drivers of   changes to The NSW Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (Sect 3) http://bit.ly/9RGUIN which confer extra powers upon social housing landlords not available to those in the private sector.Put another way,they take rights private tenants have away from social housing tenants,and confer them on the social housing provider.The hostel has curfews which limit the comings and goings of residents and restrict their use of facilities to certain times, despite their paying close to market rents for small rooms.The most important issue for us though,relates to their refusal to allow women and children equal access to meals.Staff still maintain an air of superiority.There appear to be no Street people on paid staff.his goes to the general anti-family straategies of government and the marginalisation industry, (in particular DOCs) who fail consistently and at all levels to make adequate provision for families in economic distress.