A pioneering spirit to meet the current need

It's often said that The Salvation Army has a ministry of 'presence' – of  being there in times of need, and developing services to meet any need that arises. When multicultural tensions flared after riots in 2005, The Salvation Army in Auburn began the development of a social cohesion program to eliminate the barriers that most migrants encounter when arriving in Australia. Auburn Salvation Army is as culturally diverse as the city it represents, with local Salvationists from a multitude of nations worshipping together every Sunday and at various groups and ministries throughout the week. The Social Cohesion Program developed at Auburn has been expanded to other Salvation Army centres and led to the setting up of a multicultural school at The Salvation Army’s Booth College. In order to fill a need for community building and welfare support, The  Salvation Army in Auburn last year started up a community kitchen. People from the community can eat a low-cost two course meal four days a week at Auburn Salvos, and the meal is cooked by students – many of them refugees or asylum seekers – who are learning cooking and hospitality skills from professional chefs. Another initiative to come out of Auburn Salvos is The Salvation Army’s award-winning ‘Salvos Legal’ initiative. Born ‘Courtyard Legal’ and run from the front room of Auburn Salvation Army by passionate local Salvationist and lawyer, Luke Geary, the unique social justice law-firm now has offices across NSW and Queensland and continues to operate a free humanitarian legal advice bureau at Auburn every Monday evening.