The Twin Rivers Centre at Eagleby on Brisbane’s southside, was formed in 1992 out of the heart of people with a desire to help their local community. From there it has grown into an amazing facility that offers hope, purpose and direction through incredible programs and services.
Twin Rivers’ vision is to connect, build and equip people for success in their lives. They outwork this through their Church programs, Food Outlet, Community Café and Care services. Twin Rivers desires to show faith in action, and helps hundreds of people every week find hope and support.
Connection Between Church and Community
Ps Reuben Roos is the Senior Leader of The Twin Rivers Centre, and provides a valuable connection between the Church and Community Care. He also works with the local government and the Department of Education to ensure the programs reach as many people as possible in the area.
As well as providing training and employment in the Café and Food Outlet for the long-term unemployed and mothers wanting to return to work, this year Twin Rivers will also partner with the Logan Mosque. Together they will focus on delivering government services and a hospitality training program.
Twin Rivers Café
‘We have teams in our Café,’ says Rueben. ‘So our trainees can come and be hands-on. They have the opportunity to earn a Certificate III in Hospitality, but we often find that people come with barriers to employment.’
Lives Changed for Christ
In conjunction with the traineeship program, Twin Waters also provides support to participants through their Care Department. Trainees have access to social workers and counsellors, who take the time to make connections in the community to help people find jobs after their training is completed.
‘Ultimately we want to see lives changed for Christ,’ says Rueben. ‘Some people come in very angry or very demanding. But we provide student support for those people. Because we’ve been able to build relationships with Griffith University, we actually do our own debriefing of the students.’
Twin Rivers Food Outlet
Another avenue that Twin Rivers uses to connect with the local community is its Food Outlet. But they do things a little differently from other charities in the area. ‘We specifically want to give people dignity,’ says Rueben. ‘So we present as a store. Part of that is because we have lots of people working and doing traineeships. But it’s also so we can offer people low-cost food.’
Bringing People Together
Allowing people to come in and shop for themselves exposes them to the Christian ethos, which is very important to Twin Rivers. ‘It’s another avenue that God gives us,’ says Rueben. ‘We get donations from a lot of places, including Foodbank and Second Bite. Everything is heavily discounted. People can come and collect a shopping trolley, and shop as if they’re in a normal supermarket.’
Students learning to cook in the commercial kitchen and café also portion up single serve meals that are sold in the Food Outlet. ‘When love wins, everyone benefits,’ says Rueben. ‘It’s just amazing that we can have those sorts of outcomes here.’
Twin Rivers Commercial Kitchen
While Twin Rivers does have a dedicated staff team, they also need volunteers to help. ‘We need people particularly on Saturdays, to make everything happen,’ says Rueben. ‘The community has been quite isolated over the past 2 years because of Covid.’
‘But it’s truly amazing what God can do when we bring people together again.’
To get involved and learn more about volunteer opportunities at Twin Rivers, please visit this link.
