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In this week’s episode, Geoff chats with Theresa Mitchell, who is representing Agape Outreach Inc – Winner’s of the 2023 NSW/ACT Community Achievement Awards – Awards Australia Connecting Communities Award.
Agape Outreach Inc, founded on January 26th, 2009, by Theresa Mitchell, emerged as a beacon of hope and compassion in the Tweed Heads region. What began as a personal mission to address the needs of the hurting, broken, and disenfranchised has evolved into a thriving charity with over 240 volunteers and 4 employees. Theresa Mitchell’s journey with Agape reflects a profound dedication to the community. She started by distributing a small number of meals in her local area, cooked in her own kitchen. Today, Agape operates between Byron Bay on the North Coast of New South Wales and Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast in Queensland, providing over 800 hot meals every week to vulnerable persons on the streets. Agape’s unique model of Agape: involves rescuing edible foods and transforming it into meals and food hampers for families. Run with an impressive 98% volunteer base, Agape operates on minimal overheads, ensuring that the organization can assist a maximum number of people. Agape’s commitment to ‘unconditional love,’ as embodied by its name derived from the Ancient Greek term agápē, is a testament to the deep and sacrificial love that transcends circumstances. This philosophy is evident in every aspect of Agape’s operations, from providing shower and laundry access to offering take-away hot meals, food hampers, volunteer case management support, counselling, and life skills classes —Everything is offered free of charge. Theresa Mitchell envisions both short-term and long-term goals for Agape. In the short term, the focus is on re-establishing the psychology department, which faced challenges due to shortages of qualified person’s that will work for the Medicare rebate. The goal is to revive this crucial department and build it to ensure its sustainability. Looking towards the future, Agape’s long-term goal involves the development of tiny housing living estates. This ambitious initiative aims to provide stable and supportive housing solutions for vulnerable individuals, that practices the existing models that AGape has already developed to help people to maintain their housing. Further solidifying Agape’s commitment to creating lasting positive change in the community.— it touches the lives of individuals, fostering a sense of belonging and hope in the communities they serve
Check out the AGape’s website: https://agapeoutreachinc.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AgapeOutreachInc/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/agapeoutreachinc
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Transcript
[00:00:08] Christine
Welcome to inspirational Australians, where we share stories of Australians making a difference in their communities and in the lives of others. We get inspirational Australians acknowledge that we’re wondering and vulnerable people of the poor nation as their traditional owners and custodians of the lands and waterways on which this podcast is produced. We pay our respect to elders, past and present, and those who are emerging and extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At inspirational Australians, we are inspired by the world’s oldest living culture and pay homage to their rich storytelling history. When we share stories on our podcast
[00:00:58] Geoff
For her significant contribution to the hurting the hungry, disenfranchised, and in fact, anyone in need Theresa Mitchell was awarded the twenty twenty three award to Australia, connecting community award to category of the 7NEWS community achievement award for New South Wales and it was for her tireless and unwavering work with a guide outreach. It’s great to have you on the show, Teresa, welcome.
[00:01:27] Theresa
Thank you. So I really appreciate being here.
[00:01:29] Geoff
Well, it’s lovely to meet you. It was not and to have the privilege of presenting you on stage for the incredible work you do and you’ve achieved so much to so many over the years. Congratulations. What led you to be so passionate about making a difference for people?
[00:01:49] Theresa
Um, well I suppose I volunteered my whole life. I started volunteering when I was probably eighteen and um yeah, started off doing hydrotherapy with accident victims and intellectually disabled people I’ve, I’ve always been a part of something and basically when I found myself as a single mum and doing it really hard, the amount of services I could reach out to were very, very limited, and I couldn’t get food and I was gone without food as a single mum, when I um, first found myself in that situation. Anyway, I would walk along the street and there was all these people that were homeless sitting there, and I’d sit down and have a chat with them and you know, to put a smile on their face was so basic to interact to be able to talk to be able to hear them and to see them there was so little going on fifteen years ago to help people that were homeless and, and I thought, well, you know what, I can make a meal. So I baked a meal and I went down the streets and I said, who’s hungry and it’s gone from there?
[00:02:55] Geoff
That’s absolutely fantastic. So it’s always been in you to help people. And of course that led to founding, agape outreach when did agape outreach start? And what were your initial goals in those early days?
[00:03:10] Theresa
Um, okay, so agape has been around for fifteen years, so I started on Australia day two thousand and nine. Um, I thought if I said Australia day, I’ll remember it because, you know, there’s so many things to remember. And originally it was just to bake a meal and to put food into someone’s stomach. But it couldn’t stay that way. You know, people would come to the meals and they would break down crying, the things that are happening in their lives not being able to see their children not being able to work out the right path to move forward. And you know, there was so many answers that was simple answers, but they couldn’t see it because they were in trauma. So it had to grow. It had to move on from there. Um, different people pronounce it differently, so it’s all good.
[00:03:57] Geoff
So Uh, I guess, as long as we get the right people in they, that’s the most important thing. All right, so I got paid is clearly not an Australian word that we would normally hear. What is the word
[00:04:10] Theresa
come from? Okay, it’s a Greek word and it means unconditional love.
[00:04:14] Geoff
Uh, that’s correct. Remember that for sure. Yeah, Uh, that’s a great name. What area did you start servicing? I saw this need to start it again by and it had been sort of Uh, understanding the need to help people prior to that. So where did your services start and where is it spread to now?
[00:04:36] Theresa
Okay, so I live in tweed heads, so I started off on coolangatta beach front. So right on the border, um, you know, the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales Uh, supporting that area. Back in the day, fifteen years ago, we probably grew to about thirty five people coming to the service. Now Uh, we covered Byron bay in New South Wales right up to runaway bay on the gold coast. So we actually had the police in Byron bay ring is up and ask us to come to that area. Well, there was a food service outlet there, there was no access to toiletries sleeping bags teams, any of that type of thing for people at that time. So we’ve been bit down there, I’m not sure if it’s eight or ten years, something like that. We’ve been in Byron now, and we’re all the way up to runaway bay in the gold coast. Uh fantastic. Uh,
[00:05:26] Geoff
I was only in the area for about a year and a half go on holidays and you know as tourist such a beautiful area and you just think, Oh, this would be such an amazing place to live, but we don’t actually connect with the realization that there are many in need and below the surface or what you see along the beach front. There are people who are really hurting. So it’s wonderful to talk to and actually appreciate and understand within your region, but anywhere and everywhere. Uh, it’s not always as things same
[00:06:03] Theresa
things have gotten a lot harder um with the border closures over covid, you know, that ran to straits from where our organization is. So that left a lot of people homeless in the area because they couldn’t cross the border seven hundred and fifty on the first day when they closed were made homeless. Uh then put on top of that the northern river floods. So five thousand three hundred houses were wiped out in those floods that was two years ago. And the majority of those people are still living in pods or in motels or in tents. Uh we’ve, we’ve actually out of our building at the moment is a charity because we went out during those floods and the insurance is only just fixing it now two years later. And so no New housing has come around in the last couple of years and, you know, we, we had people on the waiting list up to twenty years before this stuff happened. Uh,
[00:06:53] Geoff
it’s hard to fathom that you can be still living out of a home two years later in, in Australia, in this lucky country. Maybe not quite so lucky for various reasons. For, for some how many volunteers and staff do you have?
[00:07:12] Theresa
I’ve got over two hundred and sixty volunteers at the moment. Um staff, I did have five, but I lost a couple over Christmas. It’s very emotional work that we do. So I’m down to three, so I’m actually got Uh, some ads out at the moment. I’m looking for a New supervisor in a case management section and a New
[00:07:29] Geoff
chef. Yeah. It’s, Uh, it’s difficult for everybody, I think these days trying to find staff and that would be very, very tiring. Uh mentally. Um, certainly take its toll. I understand how are you funded? ? How do you get the funding to pay for your time?
[00:07:45] Theresa
Uh, well we have to fundraise every dollar that we spend. So we haven’t had any funding. We do as many grants as we possibly can, but there’s no grants that just say keep your doors open and pay your wages or pay your electricity or anything like that. The type of grants that we get might be he’s two and a half thousand to run a cooking class. So you know, the core things we have to fundraise for. And of course the more and more people that are in need that come to the door. We have to fundraise to cover that as well.
[00:08:17] Geoff
Must be a pretty tough during these ridiculously tough economic times after coming through covid. Uh, I guess funding and fundraising must be more difficult.
[00:08:27] Theresa
Sadly, we’ve been having to turn a lot of people away because the, the demand keeps growing every year. We collect two tons of rescued food and we repurpose that into meals and we repurpose that into food hampers for families in need. And when we, we’ve got about a thousand meals a week that we’re doing on the streets as well as the food hampers anywhere up to one hundred and fifty a day. But we cut that back at the end of last year from five days a week to three, offering the service this year. We’ve got so many things we’re having to get our repairs done to be able to keep the building going. We might have to look at cutting back again.
[00:09:03] Geoff
It must be heartwarming, but heartbreaking at the same time heartwarming that you are helping so many and heartbreaking, that you can’t do everything that you would like to if any of our listeners knows anybody that would like to. Uh that I think my with my like to make a contribution or donation or provide support. Uh and please will give tracy’s details at the end of the show. But please keep in mind the important need and the important work that’s been done by okapi. So I get it right.
[00:09:36] Theresa
You did well done.
[00:09:38] Geoff
Uh, the services are really broad, as you sort of just alluded, can you tell us in a bit more depth what those services are and what they
[00:09:48] Theresa
encapsulate? Okay. Um, so food is supposed a biggest service and to me it doesn’t make sense to have somebody come in and go on the list for housing Uh with no houses available and have them sitting there. Not having them eat for three or four weeks because they can’t afford food either. Uh, Food insecurity is such a huge thing these days as well. It’s worth it starting to get thrown around more. And that is basically with the high. It’s in the unaffordability of the cost of living more and more people are going without food. So we have a lot of senior citizens that are in food insecurity and needing food support. Uh, as well as young families and also so as I mentioned, we collect two tons of rescued food. If people don’t know what rescued food is, it’s edible food that would normally go to waste. For example, a bakery will bake fresh every day at the end of the day, they would throw out what’s left. There’s nothing wrong with it. They would just throw it out. We collect it before they throw it out. So an average. Coles could put ten thousand dollars worth of fruit and veggies in the bin per week because they’re just turning it over with the shelf life. So or they’ve cut the bag open with the standing off when they’ve cut the box open. So we collect this food and as we collect that two tonnes on average, then we have a chef and we have the volunteers. We make that up into meals and we give that back out to people. And then we also do the food hampers. We have volunteer case managers here, so we want to be able to help people do their applications for housing. I give them referrals for mental health support. Uh, it might be legal support. It could even be that their pet is in need of medical attention and we’re going to find a fit that might be affordable for them to be able to get that help. As I mentioned at the start, when people are in trauma, they don’t think clearly and they shut down, they need help to be able to do that. So we have lots of volunteer case managers. A lot of those are made up by interns from the universities and type Uh, futures, social workers or psychologist or human behaviour most are coming through our centre and getting an education working with people outside of that. We have wellness programs here that happen to help people with anxiety or substance Uh, issues Uh, dealing with life. So we have those on a weekly basis. We have a psychology department. Unfortunately it doesn’t have a psychologist in it at the moment. We have been unable to find a psychologist who’s willing to work for the Medicare rebate. Everything we do is free and I’m not prepared to start charging people for service. So we need more psychologists. I’m a big advocate to get more psychologists on board. I’m trying to be one myself, I understand why there’s so few. It’s a lot of years and a lot of money. So but um yeah, we’re going to try and get another psychologist on board. Uh outside of that we normally have enough Santa showers a laundry. We have hairdressers come in every couple of weeks and do haircuts. We do different programs like cooking classes, barista classes, technology classes, nutrition, that type of thing. And then we have an op shop here as well, and that’s our only regular source of income.
[00:13:01] Geoff
Well, you must be so very proud of the social impact that you make in the
[00:13:07] Theresa
community. Yeah, yeah. So like you mentioned before it’s, it’s emotionally rewarding, but it’s also emotionally taxing. You know, there’s so many people that walk in the door a day and their problems are solved because there’s no housing. And there’s nothing we can do about that. We can’t put a roof over their head. We can’t make them feel safe. But as I say to all my volunteers, we are a stepping stone and they would be alone if we weren’t here to help them with that stepping stone, putting a meal in their stomach and giving them a hug and someone to talk to does count. And it is a matter of reminding myself about that every day and reminding my volunteers of that every day that Well we do have some great success stories and we’re able to get some people into housing. It doesn’t happen for everybody. So we’re going to make the differences when we can.
[00:14:01] Geoff
Yeah. Very well said, how are the aims of agape outreach changed over the five years?
[00:14:12] Theresa
Um, what scared me the most when I first started was dealing with political requirements, government, political requirements. And so I never wanted to go beyond Uh, you know, red tape. I didn’t want to go beyond baking a meal and handing it out. Um, but you know what? ? Some things really find me up and get me angry. And I am not prepared to die now until I’ve got housing. I want to duplicate the model that I do because I think it works. I really believe we have to have a holistic approach. You know, we have to have that mental health. We have to have that nutrition and food side we have to as well as housing. So I think that we really need to have that holistic approach. And I want to have a, a gap having tiny housing, living estates and houses for families and all of this type of thing. And I want to duplicate that model around Australia because it works. And we know we’re going to have so many people with a high cost of living in the way things are going in need. That the need is just going to keep being made. Yeah, I’m going to work out how and I’ll find a way to prove it.
[00:15:20] Geoff
Well, I hope you do and Uh, Uh, I wish you Well in your New journey because it’s such an important work that you do. Thank you. Oh guess how many people do you think you support each week? ? You talked about, you know, roughly a thousand meals. Uh, how many people do you touch?
[00:15:37] Theresa
Well, it’s a little bit hard to tell because out of that, um, thousand meals you might see someone two or three times a week. You know, a rough sleep is more likely to come in on a regular basis. There’s no way to store food. It’s not like they’ve got a fridge to put anything into a microwave to heat it up. So some of those would be repeat turnover. Um, so yeah, so it’s probably, I don’t know, maybe seven hundred ad on the streets we would see in a week and then at the center. Uh we could we, um, you know, if you took out the people who were coming in multiple times a week. Oh, I didn’t know we could be saying three hundred and fifty four hundred a week through the center.
[00:16:18] Geoff
Yeah, that’s huge amount of people that year. Yeah, supporting and helping. I know that you’re proud of every moment. Uh, we talked about that. You know, the, the one side then the other. Yeah. The thrill and the, I guess the disappointment that you can’t do any more. What are some of the achievements that you’re most proud of? Do you
[00:16:41] Theresa
think getting us into, you know, that would have to be our biggest achievement? Uh, to start off with, we hired a two hundred square meter, Uh, building in a industrial complex. And in there we had one office and that housed all of our services and then someone would come in that was suicidal. And we’d have to just kick everybody out because you need the room for the suicidal person. Uh, we had the option in there. We had a kitchen in there, we had the sorting room in there, there was no room to move. There was no room to do anything. Um, we were there for a two year lease at the end of the two years because it was a complex looking on to all the other businesses. The other businesses turned around and said, we want you out, or we’re going to go to council to have you removed. We’re not having homeless people come in here anymore. And this is, Uh a um, you know, a stereotype and Uh, a feedback that we’ve seen over and over. So we had to get out of there at the end of the lease. And I looked around and I found this building for six hundred square meters. And it already had bathrooms, that it already had like five offices and a boardroom. And it had an area where we could put the shop and I put it out to the community and said, well it’s fifteen hundred a week to rent or it’s one and a half million to buy. Can someone help us because we don’t have this money for either. And a beautiful couple came out of the community and put one and a half million in our bank account and said go buy it. Wow.
[00:18:03] Geoff
Wow, that’s fantastic.
[00:18:05] Theresa
Yeah. So we own the building, which is absolutely lovely. Um now we’ve got a lot of hoops to jump through with de Uh, requirements expire this year. We’ve got about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars worth of renovations that we’ve got to complete by this year to be able to keep our doors open from taking counsel’s boxes. Uh, we’re working our way through that one thing at a time. Um. Yeah, but I suppose that would be our biggest win. It really would. And you know, I don’t know that we’d be standing without it. The pressure of so many people to help and no space to do it. And no way of growing with numbers to do that help. I think it probably would have put me out if we didn’t have this building. So it’s absolutely fantastic.
[00:18:52] Geoff
What a godsend. Uh, that’s absolutely brilliant. Do you in your work, collaborate with local industry experts and other organizations as well?
[00:19:03] Theresa
Lots and lots of them. So um, another homeless organization in the area is Fred’s place, which is Uh run by saint Vincent de Paul. And we try and coordinate that if they closed, we’re open and if we’re closed, they’re open. We try and working well with them. Um we also send Uh, interns back and forth between the two services because we’re both in the same field. Um we connect with a lot of people, we’ve got an organization up here called baby give back and they focus on supporting babies. So we don’t take baby items when they’re donated. There’s so many safety issues around that. We leave that to baby give back. We send all the people up there to donate to them and then we request the stuff from them when we have a baby that needs support. So um we have a, we have social futures coming in here on a weekly basis to help people with the housing list to try and get into housing. We have lots of food support, you know, we have probably thirteen bakeries alarm that we pick up from. Let alone um you know, Woolworths and Aldi and all these other food services but waste trying to grow that take on more restaurants and cafes. More farms, we’ve got a few farms we need more farms donating their ugly fruit and veggies. And so, um, you know this Uh good three sixty down in Sydney connect with Alison on a few occasions as well. We managed to get a couple of pallets of things off of her during the flood relief and during the floods because of that partnership with good three sixty. We were able to access five hundred thousand dollars worth of white goods and furniture and linen through Harvey Norman and domain and amp and Samsung. And we were able to put them back out into this area to the people who had lost everything.
[00:20:54] Geoff
Well,
[00:20:56] Theresa
I don’t think you’d be able to survive doing what we do without having partnerships.
[00:21:01] Geoff
Yeah, yeah. Well said, absolutely. I guess you probably are involved in speaking at various events or um council
[00:21:11] Theresa
conferences. Uh council don’t really invite me to things. So try and not send me information about things actually they, they cringe when I get the microphone. And
[00:21:22] Geoff
that’s unfortunate.
[00:21:24] Theresa
It is, um, I have got a rapport with Uh, Chris cherry, the mayor at the moment, which is a New relationship. So I’m hoping that that can grow. There’s not been a relationship with any other members in the area, so they’ve kind of looked negatively on us on what we’re doing and, and prefer not to have it highlighted. Basically. Um speaking events, I was in lindisfarne high School speaking to the two hundred and thirty sixth grade tents yesterday. I’ll be in Hillcrest high School in the next couple of weeks. Uh, I do get invited to places like the rotaries and provis things like that. Um yeah, occasionally I get invited to women’s groups and other places to speak. I do enjoy that Uh um
[00:22:10] Geoff
to get support from Rotary International
[00:22:13] Theresa
um local rotaries. We’ve had support from we were able to get from a local mount morning Rotary, forty thousand dollars worth of flood relief patches which we issued during the floods. So and then they make us toiletry kits and things like that that we hand
[00:22:30] Geoff
out at the local Rotary clubs are very, very supportive um of their local communities. Being a rotarian myself. Yes. I know how much money is raised and goes into the local community without that it would make it so hard. So I’m so pleased the local Rotary club is, is behind you as should any organization that Uh, as a group raises money to help community. People like yourself are just doing an extraordinary job. The breadth of what you do is extraordinary, even greater than I remember at judging.
[00:23:09] Theresa
Yeah, I
[00:23:10] Geoff
the panel were overawed by what you do in all of our finance, to our amazing work to we only have one winner and your work and your personal passion. Uh extraordinary. So again,
[00:23:22] Theresa
, congratulations. Thank you.
[00:23:25] Geoff
I just want to head in a slightly different direction talking about judging and the awards. If we go back to the seven year community achievement awards gala presentation ceremony in November, I’m sure you remember it. Well, it was. Yeah, co-hosted by the wonderful Angela Cox from seven news. What was your key takeaway from that event?
[00:23:47] Theresa
Uh, well as you know, it was a very emotional night for me. So to be recognized by such a large prestigious award. Um like, I think I love it out while I was bawling on the night. And by the way, I hate that photo of me with my face screwed up crying. A lot of the place.
[00:24:03] Geoff
Uh it’s, Uh, it’s a beautiful photo.
[00:24:05] Theresa
Yeah. I, you know, it just meant so much to be seen and to have such a large organization recognize us. It was just, it was really overwhelming. It’s been a long time to be seen in, in, in eyes like that. So, you know, like it started to from them and maybe it was because I was so emotional, it is emotional work that I do and it’s so hard to find support. So on that night there was a beautiful Uh lady who was recognized in the Landcare award. They won that. And she spoke to me and she said, Teresa, I’m going to put you on to my grant writers. So and since then I’ve had a meeting with them and they’re writing grants that they can put their fee into the grant for us. You know, these are large grants that I’ve never been able to access before because I, I haven’t had the volunteers with the knowledge to be able to do that. So, you know, that will make a difference from us if we can get some more funding. You know, one of the things they’ve applied for is the club grants to do some of these Uh, building changes that I need to do for the Dar project. If I can cut that bill down, this will mean the world to me. Um Allison from good three sixty reached out and said Teresa, let’s have a chat about how we might be able to work out you finding some funding. So I’m um, reaching out to her now to see if we can have that chat. My my take away from that was, you know, I need to continue to be in the circles with more reach because we need more reach to be able to reach more people.
[00:25:41] Geoff
Yeah. Well, currently have had that those opportunities presented. Uh, as that’s what it’s all about, you know, opening up a sphere of your, Uh, Uh, Uh, of your understanding of what you’re doing in the community. So more people now and subsequently may be able to help must have been a great acknowledgement and validation of your work as well. Importance of the things that you’re doing.
[00:26:06] Theresa
Uh, it means so much to me, it really does. Um, you know, I, I won an award at University for my study a couple of years ago and my, my comment was to the staff was, you know, Uh, a gap I win some things. But for me to have a Pat on the back is so rare, you know, um, you know, and, and that sounds a bit funny that I’m saying it like that, but it was just like I was seen by the University for the work that I was doing and this awards really felt like, you know, I was being seen as well being and what we’ve created is absolutely fantastic. And I love that. And without all the volunteers it wouldn’t happen because there’s so much there and it deserves every recognition. It definitely can, but it’s nice to be seen as well in the middle of it.
[00:26:52] Geoff
Absolutely, and people like yourself can’t go out looking for personal accolade. But when we get a Pat on the back, it is really, really lovely. And I, I challenge anybody that says, Uh, you know, getting a personal acknowledgement means nothing to me. Well, I don’t believe that, you know, because we all surely appreciate a Pat on the back and the acknowledgement that we are doing something positive in the community. So well done to you Well deserved, I must admit, Uh, I got a bit emotional and not as well as I did as a, as did probably one hundred others in the room. Because to see someone so excited. So sincere about winning an award and appreciative is really special on what the awards are all about. It is Uh giving people validation encouragement, confidence to keep going, and hopefully opening up avenues for um, for support and help. So it’s great to know that Uh you’ve been reached out to by a few people has the Uh, winning the award, raised awareness of a copy as well in any way or form.
[00:28:10] Theresa
Yeah, I think it has it. Has it definitely in the room and um, you know, locally I think every like, like I said, I struggle being seen by council to get support in the area. And I think every time something like I something happens like when we got the building, I think we were seen with a different eyes. We weren’t just a volunteer organization in the corner. We were an entity that was hanging around. And so, and, and you know, winning this award or what as well, I think it was another notch in the, you know, what these people are here for the long term and we’re not going to be quiet. So you may as well start coming on board with us.
[00:28:55] Geoff
Sounds like plan? Well, nominations for the seven news community achievement awards will be open again soon for the twenty twenty four program, which will encourage listeners to nominate someone.
[00:29:08] Theresa
Oh, definitely. Um and I would encourage them to look for those people who are working really hard and maybe getting overlooked. You know, organizations may be chugging away and looking as though they do really well. But I can tell you being the leader of it is very tiring, very taxing and Uh, burning out all over the place. So you know, to have somebody Pat you on the back and to pick you up and say, let’s give you a leg up by helping you be saying. That’s huge. It really is. And
[00:29:45] Geoff
people can Uh, put someone forward in just a few minutes through our um, we have an online form that can give the details of someone or an organization that I feel are really making a difference in the community. And I want to take a few minutes more then reach out to the person they wish to nominate, to get details about what they’re doing. So if anyone would like to nominate someone or want to know more about a sponsorship Uh, opportunity, drop me an email at Jeff Jarrett left. Jeff and I would just try accom or go on to the awards Australia website or Australia dot com and have a look at your state and the award categories that are available. Theresa going on a slightly different tactic. Again, what something we might not know about. It could be a hobby, a passion, something a fun fact. What some of you don’t know about Teresa.
[00:30:48] Theresa
Um, Oh, a fun fact about a fun fact. Um and then I suppose a weird one is I look at rejuvenating myself by being busier. That time. Um yeah. So I was in foster care I had thirty seven kids over six years that were intensive needs and I take on International students as well. I’ve had over two hundred and fifty International students and I think having young people around me keeps me young. Yeah, it regrets me. You know, I’m an empty nester at home and um, you know, when I’m really busy and I’m feeling burnt out, I’ll go and go, well, is there any students I can take on board or something like that, you know, and I’ll become busier again. But you know, the thrill of showing somebody something New or the thrill of making a difference in their life that’s memorable. That re-energized me doesn’t have license.
[00:31:49] Geoff
It does, it does. Absolutely. Well that clearly is what drives you. But there must be times when all gets a little bit too much, you touched on, we feeling a bit low. Besides being re-energized by taking on more work and more people. Yeah. What helps you to reset, bounce back and
[00:32:11] Theresa
recharge. So you don’t want to hear the answer whiskey do you?
[00:32:15] Geoff
Yeah, I do like whiskey myself, Then solve problems and in moderation. Uh,
[00:32:23] Theresa
Uh, look, I go to the gym. I love my workout. Um, I am, I’m not a skinny fit person at all, but there is definitely advantage to taking energy out or going to a boxing class and, you know, beating up a bag. Uh, you know, I think there’s a time for that. There’s a time for extra naps, there’s a time to sit and relax with whiskey. There’s a time to, um, you know, say I’m just going to have a night away at the moment. And you know, not, it doesn’t happen anywhere near enough and I’m probably the worst one for not doing it enough. But I also do recognize that I do do it. I just need to do more. I need to have more nights away for you know, weekends away, something like that and um, try and learn to shut down because I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that’s haters going you know the, the work times finish but the hit hasn’t.
[00:33:20] Geoff
Yeah. Great advice for everybody. Find an outlet, find a punching bag. Uh, metaphorically speaking that um you can release get away from time to time. Switch off from whatever it is that you’re doing. Um, find whatever it is that you need to find to make you feel some, some distance from what it is that you do in your day to day life. So what’s next for Theresa in a couple outreach?
[00:33:53] Theresa
Oh, well, once we get over all the hurdles of um, flood repairs and um, renovations to tick boxes to be able to keep our doors open properly. Uh, we’re back on track of housing. And so trying to chase that, um I, I always run fundraisers and things that I like to do. We’ve got the heart of women awards coming up in March. This is an International women’s week awards that I run every year. And Uh it’s getting bigger and better. I think this is our eighth year running it. I get to Pat other women on the back who are doing a difference in the, in the community. And once again that fires me up just to be hanging around them. Um and another thing that I’ve but we’re partnering with inspired adventures. So in the next couple of weeks we’re going to be releasing our first adventure twenty twenty five. We’re taking a group of people to the Philippines and we’re going to work in the rubbish tip with the families that live in the rubbish tip of the Philippines in Manila. And then we’re going to head over to Cebu and swim with whale sharks before we come back. It’s Uh an inspired adventure to me is things that challenge you and push you and Uh, things that you will never ever forget. And this is a fundraising thing for agape. And once again, it will be something different for me to get my head into a different space, but makes me busy.
[00:35:19] Geoff
And makes you, Uh, Uh, less stressed I gather.
[00:35:24] Theresa
Because it’s a change change. It’s almost a holiday. And so Uh, I’m really excited about taking this on board for inspired adventures and getting over there. And um, you know, working poverty is different in every country. It really is. Our poverty is different to what’s over there. And it helps you put things into perspective when you can say that. And um yeah, Uh, you know what, I want to grow myself as a psychologist as well. I’m not quite there with my studies yet. So a couple more years to go before I can be called a psychologist. But um, you know, I’m looking forward to helping more people work through their own emotions of how to give without giving too much that you expose yourself completely. Well, were they?
[00:36:08] Geoff
Well, that’s the challenge and Uh, a real balance Uh, sounds like you’re very capable and Uh, I wish you Well in your endeavors, there are many, Uh you undertake already and many that you’re adding to the list. So quite extraordinary and a real role model. And someone, I think everybody could take a leaf from the teresa’s book. Is there anything we’ve covered a lot? ? Is there anything that we’ve missed that you would like to add?
[00:36:37] Theresa
Um Oh yes, something else that’s New. We’re going into the Tea business.
[00:36:42] Geoff
Into the Tea business.
[00:36:44] Theresa
Yes ma’am. So um, Uh, Topshop is very limited with funds that it can bring in. So I’ve been looking for ideas to start a business alongside a group that will help fund us. So and Uh, one of our board members, you started clean Tea. She used to do clean Tea. And now she’s, um, she sold that Uh to a charity and um, Sadly the charity burned down. And um, they’re not continuing with clean Tea. Now she’s actually gone on and studied the breastfeeding Tea code, so she sells Tea now for lactating mothers and she’s doing very well in her business there. But she’s on a board and she’s going to support us to sell Tea. Tea leaves, gourmet Tea leaves. So um, at the moment we’ve got calming Tea, we’ve just brought that out this week. But we’ll be looking at bringing in some of the lines of clean Tea used to have. And that was the balm by blue Tea oblong Uh, weight loss Tea, detox Tea, all of these different teas. And um, yeah, this is going to be a business to support a gap in our work that we do as in charity Tea.
[00:37:54] Geoff
Sounds wonderful and has called a clean Tea.
[00:37:58] Theresa
No, no clean teas going now. Um. So if people go to a gap, I saw it, you’ll find like I said, we’ve only got one Tea at the moment, which is the, um, Tea. So but yeah, there will be more to come, so it’s very exciting New diva. Uh for us. And um, yeah, I’m looking forward to posting of lots of teas to people and being able to buy more food to put into meals for people in need.
[00:38:23] Geoff
We talked about how do we unwind and relax, well, what better way than to sit in the afternoon with a cup of your Tea?
[00:38:32] Theresa
Exactly. My staff keep telling me and I need to start drinking it.
[00:38:36] Geoff
And then after you’ve had your whiskey, you can have the detox Tea. So I’ve got it all covered.
[00:38:45] Theresa
Totally, totally holistic. It’s good to try
[00:38:50] Geoff
capital basil. Um do you have any other words of wisdom for our listeners? You’ve given us quite a few. Is there anything you’d Uh, any words of wisdom you’d like to leave us with?
[00:39:02] Theresa
Okay, well I do a podcast as well. And I always say at the end of the podcast, be the love that’s missing in the world.
[00:39:09] Geoff
In the love that’s missing in the world, but I feel my contribution in that regard. Uh well, we’d be a far better place. Yeah.
[00:39:18] Theresa
I really do believe that that love is different for everybody that they feel is missing, but it’s why it’s needed. I like it,
[00:39:28] Geoff
Tracy, where can listeners connect with you online? Uh, where can they donate? How do I find out about volunteering and more about the work that you do in a gap? I
[00:39:38] Theresa
reach. Okay, so Uh we got a website agape outreach Inc.. They do have to put the Ink in a gap, is a very popular word around the World and there’s a few thousand all those out there. So happy outreach Inc, on the website on there is a volunteers page and people can sign up as an individual or as a school group or as a corporate like a business to come on board with us in one form or another. Uh, we have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Uh, I do not have a volunteer working those things at the moment and Facebook is the one I only really understand. So that’s the one most populated. What we do on a day to day basis. You’ll find mostly on Facebook, but we do have all of them if people want to connect with us. Fantastic.
[00:40:25] Geoff
I can’t pay outrage. Ink don’t skip the Ink. Uh, I really encourage everybody to get onto your website and have a look and keep an eye out for the T as well. Yeah, I’ve won’t already,
[00:40:40] Theresa
won’t commenters are
[00:40:41] Geoff
coming. So stay tuned and keep checking the website and if you’d like to donate, make a contribution in one way or another, please do would be wonderful to see the donations rolling in for you.
[00:40:56] Theresa
That would be lovely.
[00:40:58] Geoff
Try this pain. Absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast, RU thrill for me having presented you on stage just a few months ago. You’re an Absolute inspiration. You’re a powerhouse. You’re a change maker. Thank you so much for sharing some of your story with us
[00:41:15] Theresa
today. Thank you. I really appreciate being here.
[00:41:19] Geoff
Absolutely. Our pleasure. Well, I hope everybody listening has enjoyed hearing teresa’s story. And until next week please remember, be kind and together we make a difference.
[00:41:35] Christine
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