Volunteer Thelmy finds a ‘second home’ in the Salvos
BY ANTHONY CASTLE
Thelmy Manuputty is a volunteer with The Salvation Army, having struggled with homelessness just one year ago. Thelmy’s journey has been one in search of a home on more than one occasion, first as an asylum seeker and more recently in need of emergency accommodation.
“I was stuck in Indonesia during COVID for over two years,” Thelmy explains. “I went back to Indonesia to see my mother, then the lockdowns came. I was there for two years and eight months, having to survive and trying to get a job. It was like everyone for themselves. I saw a lot of people die. My visa ran out, and I had to organise the money to come back. I returned home to no home.”
Thelmy returned to Australia to find her home and work gone, her children having been cared for by a friend. At her lowest point, she realised she needed help.
“I was couch surfing at my friend’s place, waiting for Centrelink payments,” Thelmy says. “My friend said to me, ‘Lay down your pride and seek help’. So, I went to The Salvation Army, and I made an appointment to see the case worker. I started from zero again and was at a shelter for five and a half months.”
Thelmy first came to Australia as an asylum seeker 24 years ago. She has faced the challenge of making a home in this country more than once, with significant hardship.
“I was a refugee,” Thelmy explains. “I came to Australia by boat. I arrived after five days at sea and was picked up by the Australian Navy. I was in an immigration detention centre for two and a half months (only spending 10 minutes outside each day). Back in Indonesia, there was war, with many attacks on Christian communities. My father was a pastor, so we left.”
“I look at my life before and now, and I didn’t have this kind of peace before.”
Thelmy and her father settled in Australia, but the process of fleeing war took its toll in the years that followed.
“I’ve been through war,” Thelmy says. “I can tell the sound of a gun and where the bullets are coming from. I saw churches that were burned and identified the remains of family members. It’s not normal. For the first five years in Australia, I was traumatised every time I heard a firework. New Year’s Eve is scary. My life is good now, I can laugh about it, but going through that process was massive.”
After working with a Salvos caseworker, Thelmy was able to find accommodation, then housing, and employment again so she could support her children. Thelmy now volunteers at the Salvos each week, serving at her corps’ café.
“I look at my life before and now, and I didn’t have this kind of peace before,” Thelmy says. “We need more places like The Salvation Army. I’ve been at different services and The Salvation Army understands people’s struggles more. They don’t treat you like just a number. I am involved in the church. I can support myself [and] feel human again. It’s my second home.”
Thelmy has been in the process of becoming a Salvation Army soldier, learning more about the organisation and finishing recruits classes. She is ready to be a full member of the Salvos community and help others the same way the Salvos helped her.
“The reason I signed up to be a soldier was to really understand what The Salvation Army believes in,” Thelmy says. “In the hard times, the Salvos are always there. I’ve been homeless and stood in those people’s shoes. Six and seven months ago, I was homeless. When you go to The Salvation Army, you’re not just a number. They treat you with respect, and you feel like you have dignity.”
