THE ABORIGINAL SOBRIETY GROUP OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED.
Author: Basil Sumner – Administration Officer
~DATE, estimated 1994
A SHORT HISTORY
The Aboriginal Sobriety Group Inc., {A.S.G.} started in 1973 when seven people, Cyril Coaby, May Wilson, Anne Koolmatrie, Jack Koolmatrie, Neville Smith, Cyril Lindsay and Alex Gollan, who had gained their sobriety, began to meet. The first meetings were held in parks, pubs, streets, or wherever Aboriginal people gathered.
These people continued to meet in order to encourage each other to remain sober through different crisis periods – a very trying time for the alcoholic, under stress and who will often revert to the bottle with the idea that alcohol will solve their problems.
The group continued to grow, and to date the A.S.G. has its own office which is situated in the Aboriginal Community Centre (A.C.C.).
OFFICE AND STAFF
We have 3 staff members in the office – Basil Sumner – Administration Officer, Les Graham – Field Officer, Angie Stojsavljevic – Secretary/bookkeeper.
As you can see we are very understaffed, – one field officer is not enough for the workload.
There is so much to do and so little staff to do it with, the one field officer we have has to cover the city and metropolitan area which, as you can imagine, is a very heavy workload for one person.
Also, all our staff are on 24-hour call-in case anyone needs to be picked up and taken to a treatment centre or our overnight shelter.
ALLEN BELL HOUSE – MEN’S DRY HOSTEL
Many people have been able to give up alcohol one way or another but find that they need support to actually remain sober and readjust to the stresses and strains of everyday living without alcohol.
We have met this need by providing the hostel at Torrensville, known as Allen Bell House. While these people remain sober and begin to gain confidence in themselves the A.S.G. assists them in obtaining jobs, if they feel the desire to work.
There is no limit to the length of time in which to reside at the hostel, but an effort is made, in the care of families, to have them housed with the aid of the Aboriginal funded unit. On the average people stay for a period of three months.
A program has been devised where residents do help with the upkeep of the hostel, for example, gardening, domestic work, etc. For those who are not studying, this could be seen as a form of therapy, – something to keep the mind occupied while the body is adjusting to being sober.
The manager of the hostel is Major Sumner and he also, besides running the hostel, does counselling.
CYRIL LINDSAY HOUSE – Overnight shelter
The overnight shelter is predominantly for Aboriginal people, but should a European come to us for help, we do not turn our back. People passing through this shelter are usually homeless, particularly as a result of their alcohol problem. Cyril Lindsay house is an overnight shelter and therefore must be treated as such. It is open from 5.00p.m. until 10.00a.m. Exceptions have been made and people have been allowed to stay for a longer period, particularly in the wetter and colder months.
People who come to this shelter can have a bed for the night, wash their clothes, have a meal or two and shower themselves. This is extremely important for those who are homeless.
Cyril Rigney is the manager of this hostel and whenever possible, where a person is there long enough, he does counselling.
MAY WILSON HOUSE – Women’s dry hostel
This hostel is strictly for women only and it is run by Veronica Brodie. As well as being hostel manager, she also does counselling. May Wilson House has only been running for nine months.
A.S.G. was trying for a number of years to get a women’s hostel. Before this there were very few places for women with alcohol or alcohol related problems to go.
This hostel is also very important to the children of the mothers who reside at our hostel.
GROUP GATHERINGS
A.S.G. has group gatherings once a fortnight on a Wednesday for residents of all three hostels, the staff and the committee.
DAY CENTRE/SOUP KITCHEN
The Soup Kitchen is situated in the Aboriginal Community Centre building on the same floor as our office. This service provides a daily meal for many people off the streets, from the parks and from their homes. This service is as important as any other of our services, because of nutritional value to people, especially people with alcohol problems, who suffer from vitamin deficiency quite often.
At the moment we are waiting to hear from Social Security about our Day Centre. We had a Day Centre at St Paul’s church but because the building was sold we have been trying to find other accommodation for this service. Social Security came to assess the premises at the Aboriginal Community Centre, and we are now awaiting anxiously to hear of its approval.
We have been, and still are at present, providing meals each day from some donations that the Quaker Service Council gave us and from our staff’s own pockets, because there were no funds for food.
If the kitchen and dining facilities here are approved by Social Security, we will then have funds for food and staff to run the Day Centre/ Soup Kitchen.
We have a lot of contact with our people through the Day Centre/Soup Kitchen, and this is very valuable to us and provides our field officer with opportunities of talking to and counselling these people.
NETBALL TEAM
A.S.G. has a team in the Netball Association, which comprises a number of people from our hostels as well as some people from our community. The team is doing exceptionally well – so far, they are unbeaten.
FOOTBALL TEAM
Some A.S.G. members are committee members and players of the Kaurna Downs Sporting Club, which is involved with the football team, Kaurna United. This is part of our strategy in giving people an alternative to drink, although we still get the element who will indulge in alcohol.
VOLUNTARY WORKERS
In actual fact, A.S.G. started out with voluntary workers.
There are a number of volunteer workers and they are greatly appreciated, even though their time is limited. Volunteer workers usually help with cooking and cleaning, among other things.
CONCLUSION
We do not have enough workers or the right workers to help the young people. We need to have either young workers, or older workers that the young people have great respect for, to be able to get through to them.
You cannot force an alcoholic to become sober if he/she does not choose to do so. All the A.S.G. can do is to give counselling when it is called for (which is very often) and try and encourage people (the alcoholics) to find an alternative to the booze – THIS IS NOT AN EASY TASK.
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