Established in 1980, SPCS has grown into a trusted and vital emergency relief service and key support for many of the most vulnerable and marginalised people on the southern section of the Mornington Peninsula. SPCS improves the lives of people experiencing disadvantage or crisis situations through a range of crisis support services as well as material aid, fresh food and pantry items, transport vouchers, assistance with medication costs and help with school costs, books, and uniforms.
We run a number of centre based and outreach programs from those sleeping rough or experiencing homelessness through to our Community Pantry and Fresh Food Programs which provide for over 1,600 clients annually and their children and other family members, with access to vital staples and fresh fruit and vegetables, and therefore nutrition.
Access to these programs not only improves the wellbeing, nutrition and health of all our clients and any people they support but most importantly brings them into range of our professional staff as well as providing an opportunity for healthy social and community interaction with our diverse group of dedicated volunteers. This is vitally important as many marginalised clients do not find it easy to access support services directly or to socially interact with their community. Our services are an important engagement entry point to other services that can address the underlying issues of client disadvantage.