A Poem byMurray Hartin

In 2008, we hosted the Inaugural ABCD Asia Pacific Conference in Newcastle, Australia.

Local bush poet, Murray Hartin, was asked to write something special which our Conference delegates could relate to. Murray met with Judi Geggie and myself before the Conference to talk about the issues, challenges and barriers that community workers might face.

During the discussion, I told Murray about my work with the Caravan Project who are a team of community workers who support people living permanently in caravan parks in the Hunter and how working with residents with multiple issues had helped me developed a deeper understanding of the stigma and the struggles often attached to people in crisis.

I continued to tell Murray the following story:

I was in Sydney in 2006, running an ABCD Trainer the Trainer workshop with Jody Kretzmann, Ted Smeaton and Judi Geggie. My community worker colleagues from the Caravan Project were attending the training and as many of you may know, when away with colleagues at a Conference in the middle of a bustling CBD, there were after dinner drinks and dancing.

As I was one of the main Trainers and knowing that I would need to be "on my game" in the morning, I said my farewells before midnight, much to the groans and pleadings of my colleagues and I started walking back to my Hotel.

On the way, I saw a homeless man laying down, with a blanket, on some cardboard, in an alcove on a busy street and for those who know me; I'm always up for a chat!

I stooped down and said, "Hi there, would you like a coffee?"

Well... I didn't realise he was actually asleep so, after I completely startled him and he had shaken off his sleep and asked me to repeat what I had said, we went for a walk together to get a coffee from around the corner...

His name was John, he had a pretty rough start to life, had been through addiction, was originally from out West, he had had unsuccessful tenancies and was just trying to survive while he contemplated his future options. John told me about his dreams, hopes for the future and his family. When he asked me what I was doing in the city, I launched into excited, trainer mode and explained the philosophy of ABCD and how cool it was to 'discover care' when working with communities...

After my spiel and a little more small talk, I said my farewells to John and as I walked off down the street, I called back to him "I hope everything sorts out for you, John..." and as I turned the corner, a voice, that still echoes in my mind, came back to me saying...

"THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE, DEE!"

So, on the basis of this story, the clever Murray Hartin wrote the following poem (click on the attchment) which he dedicated to me at the Conference dinner in Newcastle in 2008 - I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

updated by @dee-brooks: 10/24/16 04:46:48PM