When mass violence broke out down the road from his church and police filled the streets, the Rev Dean Reilly, says it was hard to know what to do.
"There was quite a large police presence " five or six police four wheel drives and 20 or 30 police in blue overalls," recalls Rosemeadow Anglican’s assistant minister.
However in the last 24 hours, Mr Reilly has doorknocked two of the notorious Three M streets (Macbeth Way, Malcolm Way and Macduff Way) delivering left-over Christmas hampers and talking to locals.
“Almost everyone took one with the exception of three or four people,” he says.
“People were generally out in the street talking to each other (although this is not unusual) and there was a film crew and reporters talking to some of them.”
Mr Reilly says he wanted to talk to locals “simply to see how they were going” and he was able to have meaningful conversations with a number of residents, some of whom asked questions about Rosemeadow Anglican.
While most didn’t comment on the issues that have dominated media coverage of the streets in the last week, Mr Reilly said there was a sense of sadness among people who did.
“One lady said that she was disappointed because ‘the streets were starting to get good again, but now it’s just gone back to people not trusting each other again’.”
Christmas connections continue
Only weeks ago, 46 members of Rosemeadow and Appin Anglican Church had walked the scene of the "riots' " the so-called Three Ms " to deliver 875 Anglicare food hampers.
In fact, so many church members joined in that the three-day hamper exercise was completed in just one day " Saturday December 20.
"When we were there everyone was lovely and people were very thankful for the hampers that were being delivered," he says.
"Three or four didn't want them, but that was only because they felt others could benefit more from them."
Now, Mr Reilly says Rosemeadow Anglican's desire to reach out to the residents of these three streets, which are only 200 metres away from the church building, is still as strong as ever.
"Our aim is to get alongside people and see how they're going and give them the opportunity to know there are Christian people who do care for them and want to see them move toward a better lifestyle," he says.
Tough call
Mr Reilly says he could not be sure whether a church presence would be a hindrance or a help in the immediate aftermath of the brawl on Monday night last week, which saw 14 people arrested and six people wounded.
"This was a community group that we haven't had strong links with, so it was difficult to figure out how to get in there," he says.
However he says speaking to the residents a week after the worst of the violence has been a positive move.
“If we’d gone in alongside the police, residents may have linked us with them, which may not have been a helpful thing,” he says.
“Going there a few days after has been helpful, and everyone has been receptive and wanted to talk.”
Despite the past week's news reports of a "massive brawl' involving 100 people and then of a further "drunken punch-up' early this week, Mr Reilly says disappointment, rather than fear, has been the Rosemeadow congregation's reaction.
"They are disappointed their suburb is in the media again but they are not afraid. For people who live in this area, it's the area they grew up in, and they know what it's like," he says.
Only 15 months ago, Rosemeadow Anglican responded to public grief by holding a memorial service for toddler Dean Shillingsworth at the Ambarvale pond where his body was found, talking to distraught locals and distributing brochures on dealing with grief.
However Mr Reilly says incidents like these are not characteristic of the Rosemeadow community as a whole. Of the 8430 households in the Rosemeadow parish, 950 are department of housing and 74 are in the ‘Three Ms’ estate.
"There are issues in the area, but this is not typical of the greater area " it doesn't happen every night."
AAP Image/Vincent Morello
