Salvos help Pakistani family to embrace new beginning in Australia
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
The Salvation Army’s New Beginnings Project has officially welcomed its first family to Australia, just under two years after the program’s launch.
Launched in June 2024, the goal of the project was to partner with The Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) program.
The CRISP program is an initiative of both the Australian Government and Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA). The New Beginnings Project encourages corps members to participate in the program under both the CRSA and Salvation Army banners.
The family of three – a mother and her two sons – are being sponsored through Auburn Corps in Sydney’s inner west. While they originally came from Pakistan, the family has been residing in Thailand for the past eight years while they waited for a resettlement opportunity.
Support offered through New Beginnings and CRISP typically includes welcoming the new household on arrival and assisting them to feel safe and settled, helping navigate everyday life in a new country, supporting access to income, healthcare, education and housing, enrolling children in schools and connecting adults with English classes, assisting with building social connections and supporting pathways towards employment or further study.
TSA Refugee and People Seeking Asylum Lead Cynthia Gunawan said the mother is now enrolled in TAFE English classes, and the eldest son has begun school. The family is also registered for Centrelink and has set up a bank account. Perhaps most crucial of all, though, is that two weeks prior to the family’s arrival, the corps managed to secure them a small, but affordable apartment within walking distance of Auburn Corps.
Cynthia said how the accommodation came about was a sign of God’s help in the process. She said the family was able to secure a six-month lease immediately.
“The agent who was working with them for this particular place was really friendly, and actually advocated for [the family] to the owner,” Cynthia said. “That was a huge win, and we can see God is really helping us.”
Auburn Corps Leader Natalie Kistan said the family were settling in really well, making friends and enjoying having spaces for the children to run around and experience freedom to walk to school or the playground without fear. She said learning English was now a key focus for the family. She said since Auburn Corps already had a large refugee and asylum seeker community, joining the project was a logical next step.
“That’s where our heart is already, and it just made sense,” she said. “We want to help people, support people [and] we want to give people a chance to come to this amazing country and be part of that journey.”
To find out more about the New Beginnings Project, contact intercultural@salvationarmy.org.au.
