by Jeremy Halcrow

A heavenly vision is set to blossom in Moss Vale over the next year with the launch of Anglicare’s new community garden project. The project aims to provide a healthy place where men who are socially and geographically isolated can meet, form friendships and contribute to the community.

The predicament of young men in the NSW Southern Highlands received significant attention in 1990s after media reports of suicides in the region. A major problem is the high rate of unemployment locally, which is at 13.9 per cent for young men.

“The only meeting place that men have in our towns at the moment is the pub. This only serves to reinforce unhealthy behaviour patterns involving alcohol and gambling,” said Moira Ritchie, Anglicare’s Community Development Officer in the Southern Highlands.

The garden is the latest in a series of ‘community care’ projects germinated from the unique partnership between Anglicare and the churches of the Southern Highlands.

For the past six years, volunteers from local Anglican churches have played a crucial role in running a team room at Anglicare’s Moss Vale office.

This year a soup kitchen was initiated in response to the growing number of homeless and disadvantaged people suffering through the cold winter months in the region. Indeed, a secondary aim of the garden is to grow fresh produce to supply the emergency relief requirements of local charities such as Anglicare.

“Homelessness is a serious problem in the Southern Highlands,” said Debbie Magyar, Anglicare’s local emergency relief co-ordinator. “There is a desperate shortage of crisis accommodation in the Southern Highlands.”

Across the 2003 – 2004 financial year, Anglicare’s Southern Highlands team provided emergency food and financial relief to 750 families. This emergency relief work is entirely funded by the generosity of local churches and the public.