Poverty & Marginalisation - Week 6, Household Covenant

Wekk 6 of the Household Covenant concerns Poverty & Marginalisation. The key question is: "Do you ever interact in a meaningful way with people from a very different social stratum than your own, particularly those who are marginalised?"

Some suggestions are: volunteering at soup kitchens, shelters or clinics; researching the needs of local refugee or migrant communities; committ to a 'exposure' program, where you are introduced to marginalised people.

For our own household, this has definitely dropped since we became parents (and needed to focus more on career, saving for a home, etc.). Partly because of new focus, partly because of lack of time and energy.

We do get to say hello to some marginal people in and around Sunday Stuff (our church service), both locals who drop in for a cuppa and also a couple of attendees. It's not really a very meaningful interaction though.

In the past, I've been involved in a community lunch in Carlton, which gave good exposure to a broad cross-section of the local community. The lunch held in Credo Cafe at Collins St Baptist church is another great way to get involved.

To boost our involvement in this, we'll have to work hard to create some time and energy for it - a tough call with a pre-schooler and several part-time jobs to consider!