New Year Start

The start of a New Year. I hope everyone had a great holidays and was safe.

I’m excited about the next 12 months coming because I have so many new plans coming into place. In a few weeks a new and exciting shop will open, trust me this one shop is going to help more people in one year then I have helped in the last 4 ½ years since I was homeless. But I’ll say more about this new idea of a shop when I launch it in a few weeks. You’ll be impressed. Haha

“Having a Go Coffee” which I setup as a business that operates as a coffee shop, but only employs people that we have helped who are homeless or people in need and also sell Suspended Coffee which means people can buy an additional coffee for the next homeless or person in need that walks into the shop. Some exciting news to add is that “Having a Go Coffee” will also be doing home delivery for coffee as well. It’ll be great.

In the next 12 months I’m putting 5 shops into place

Valley

Ipswich

Cleveland

Caboolture

Gold Coast

Remember all locations will be a collection place for people to donate clothes and things for the Homeless BQQ’s that we do which homeless and people in need get clothes, toiletries, blankets, kids toys and things free.

On a new topic, I don’t know if anyone will want to read it but I’m starting to write a book about from having everything in life and then an accident which turned to homelessness to Homeless BBQ’s for others to everything I do now. It’ll be awesome. Haha I think I’m doing it mostly for myself because in a way I get a great feeling about what I have done and all the obstacles I’ve overcome. But the most important is I get to write about the awesome friendships I’ve made along the way.

I may never finish it of course but I’d like to think one day it’ll be done.

We are planning our next BBQ for February in Ipswich. I’ll be giving more details as I know more.

I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog and I hope you all have a great day.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com  

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming, people! I have been humming “Jingle Bells” for months now, ever since the first plan for this BBQ was there, and yes, we did it again! Also this year we have run a Christmas BBQ for the Homeless and Others in Need, proudly for the first time under the name of our charity Signal Flare. And again it was a beautiful day, Thursday 28 November 2013, in Musgrave Park under the Queensland sun. Again we saw our guests coming, we saw their excitement at finding essentials such as toiletries, clothes and backpacks, and it was a joy to see them line up for a yummy lunch. Some guests ate their lunch in groups, others sat by themselves. We saw their faces light up when they were made welcome and were greeted with a smile and friendly “Good morning”. Quite touching actually, to see how easy it was to make it a wonderful day for everyone, and everyone made it a very special day for us: it is always heart-warming to notice how people grow, come out of their shell, when you just take the time to talk with them.

 

 

 The beautiful thing is that our BBQs are not just inspiring for us, but that it also inspires other people to help others. One lady in need, for example, travelled from Brisbane’s North Side to Ipswich to attend our BBQ in September. She told me her story there and was helped - not only by me. She texted me every few weeks to let me know how she was doing, and she came again to this BBQ because she wanted to give back and volunteer. That is the most fantastic thing to experience. One of the talented artists at the Christmas BBQ enquired how she could donate things; having been at our event she saw the need and the happiness, and she wanted to help as well. Just great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As I said before, a lot of work has been done to get it all happening, we had a few hiccups but all went well in the end and it was more than worth it. One first-time volunteer had been hesitant about coming or not, as she thought everyone would know each other and she would not know anyone and feel the odd one out. She decided to come, had the best time and did not feel left out at all. At our BBQs everybody talks with everybody, there is a strong sense of inclusion and equality, and usually everybody leaves with great memories of a happy and positive event. For that we have to thank everybody who comes to our BBQs. They are beautiful souls, whether they are homeless, others in need, or volunteers.

 

 

The Polite Team would like to thank a lot of people for making our Christmas BBQ as wonderful as it was:

 

Rod, thank you for giving us the one and only Santa to join us in such a magnificent way. You spread Christmas joy to many people by being there, handing out surprises, and having many people great and small on your lap. Thank you also to the wonderful Mrs Santa!
 
The wonderful and generous Jerome and Dalton Hospitality: thank you for bringing your equipment, food and drinks, thank you for offering us your van to load with donations the day before the BBQ. It made a big difference on the morning of the BBQ! And thank you for lending Emily to us on both days.

Thank you Foodbank for donating sausages and bread.

Thank you, Ipswich Hospital Foundation, for lending us tables and marquees, and thank you, James, for picking them up, bringing them to Musgrave Park and returning them to Ipswich Hospital Foundation. While we’re at it, James, also thank you for picking up the bread in Morningside, returning the generator to East Brisbane and for returning our tables and marquees to our storage. We would have been lost without your goodwill.

St John Ambulance Australia – Wynnum division – thank you for attending our event supporting the homeless and others in need, and keeping us safe and looking after us. Keith, Brad and Chrissy, your presence was very much appreciated.

Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy, thank you so much for your fantastic contribution to donations and atmosphere as always. You simply rock and have hearts of gold, and your knitted products are made with a lot of love. Wesley Mission Emergency Relief Service, thank you for coming and helping people. Hepatitis Queensland, thank you for coming and distributing useful health information.

Odyssey Entertainment and Dan, thank you so much for organizing the fantastic live music for the event. Jon-Paul Schwarzes, Ataractic, Lex Woodfinger, Paul O’Daly, Skye Staniford and Matthew Furley / Houses, thank you for adding a very special touch to this event and for sharing your talents for all to enjoy.

Massive thank you to ALL our volunteers, amongst which members of the Golden Valley Keperra Leos Club and Kotahi Aroha. We couldn’t have done it without your compassion, sunny smiles and enthusiasm.

Rebecca and Gerhard, the list of things to thank you for is very long. In brief, thank you for your enormous contribution to making the event go well and to its preparations, for your passion, compassion and enthusiasm.

Thank you to our dedicated sorting team who helped us sort lots of donations on the weekend prior to the BBQ.

Big thank you to Having a Go Coffee Coorparoo for collecting donations for this BBQ on Brisbane's south side, and for holding them until we had reorganized our storage space on the north side.

And last but not least, thank you to everybody who donated clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys, backpacks and much more. Without you we would not have anything to give away to those who need it. And essentials that are taken for granted by us mean so much more to others who have gone without those essentials for such a long time. Whether you gave one pair of shoes or boxes full of toiletries (thank you, Telstra!), please know that it was all very, very much appreciated by us and by the people who got to take them.

 

Heavens, I hope I have not forgotten to thank anybody. If I have, please accept my sincerest apologies!

 

We hope you have caught on to the Christmas spirit of doing something nice for others.  It may be very simple for you but you will never know how much it may mean to the person who needs that touch of kindness on the day.

The Polite Team wishes you a great time leading up to the Festive Season!

Written by Bernie the Polite Girl for The Polite Team
berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com

Time-out

I am trying very hard to not put the wrong message across. It is true, I have hit some hard times, personal and business, which has given me some setback. I have found myself depressed and feel I need to get away for a couple of weeks to be on my own and take time out for myself.

I do want to make this very clear to everyone and especially the people I have helped that read my blog, I am not giving up, I am not quitting, I just feel burnt out and I am taking a short break. I am going to Sydney to get away from things, and I will have my phone off as I feel that I need to just find myself again.

I have given and done so much to help people, and I know people will want to call or text, and I am asking them now not to. I need time for me.

I hate putting it like this, but I feel I am wanting and needing this time for myself.

I will be back brighter, even bigger smile, and I hope you all have a good day. I am not going to lie, if you have an emergency please do call as I will always be there to help.

Yes we Coorparoo store "Having a Go Coffee" will be open, please come for a coffee.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, a day before one of our BBQs for the Homeless and Others in Need, I posted on The Big Issue wall on Facebook, commenting on The Big Issue's encouragement of people to take paid subscriptions on this fortnightly magazine. I commented that the street vendors, who earn their living by selling the magazine, would get less sales when people got the magazine home-delivered in the mail, and that the magazine was designed to help street vendors help themselves by selling it. A lady named Bridget (whose name is not really Bridget) replied to my post talking about her life. She was a Big Issue vendor, and I won’t go into the details but she had experienced trauma at the hands of others and had had a tough life. I read her reply while walking from South Brisbane Station to Musgrave Park at about 6:45am to set up our BBQ with Grant and some volunteers, and I replied to Bridget that I was sorry she had gone through all that in her life, that I was on my way to set up a BBQ for the homeless and others in need and so that I did not have time to reply much now, but that I would reply more tonight or tomorrow.

The same evening or the next morning (I can’t quite remember) I replied more to her comment to my post on the Big Issue Facebook page and posted photos of the BBQ on Facebook, and Bridget replied on the photos: she had been to the BBQ, found some clothes, enjoyed some great food (thank you, Dalton Hospitality!) and had a great time. My surprise was huge: I had no idea she lived in Brisbane! I found a Facebook friend request from her and that was the start of a friendship.

Bridget sold The Big Issue in Brisbane and was a regular at our BBQs. Then, fast forward, while we are still doing BBQs for the homeless and others in need, Grant was opening his coffee shop “Having a Go Coffee”. A very special coffee shop that really deserves – and will get!!! - a post of its own. For those who don’t know, in brief: “Having a Go Coffee” employs only people from a background of homelessness or other hardship to help them turn their lives around, it is a suspended-coffee outlet, and 20 cents of every cup sold goes to Signal Flare, the charity that we set up but that really has been Grant’s initiative – Signal Flare, too, deserves a post of its own! “Having a Go Coffee” is also a drop-off zone for donations for our BBQs: clothes, shoes, toiletries and anything else donated for homeless and others in need can be dropped off at the shop from where it will go to our storage or straight to the BBQs.

To understand the rest of this story you need to understand the concept of suspended coffee. It's simple: suspended coffee means that you can buy a coffee but instead of having it yourself you can place a token in a jar for someone in need to have a coffee. Every generous soul can do it! Bridget regularly visited “Having a Go Coffee” to enjoy a suspended coffee. She enjoyed the coffee so much that she was often literally moved to tears because people had the goodness of heart to buy a suspended coffee for someone else, so that she too could enjoy a coffee like most people can.

Lately Bridget has been doing very well. She has been able proudly to buy a few suspended coffees for others herself and, coming from where she has come from, she was doubly proud and happy because she knew from experience what these coffees mean to people in need. To them it is much more than the ordinary coffee it is for most people: it is coffee that comes with love from another person, it shows that people care, drinking coffee in a coffee shop like other people do narrows the gap between them and others and lifts their feelings of self-worth, and because they can’t have a coffee that often it simply tastes like heaven, too!

And just a few weeks ago Bridget came into the shop, with a beaming smile, carrying bags of clothes she was donating to our BBQs. Just awesome and heart-warming. She was proud and so were we. And she knows her clothes will go directly and for free to people who really need them and are very much helped by them. Bridget is giving back to the community and it is wonderful. We applaud her and people like her. We cheer them on. They have come a long way and they show that hard times can be overcome, that people can improve their situations and deserve respect. The homeless and others in need don’t deserve the prejudice and negative attitude they so often meet: we don’t know their story and we don’t know how hard they might be working right now to get out of their situation into a better one.

To me, Bridget’s story is an inspiration. I am proud. And it all started with a post to The Big Issue… Thank you, Bridget.

I hope you will all have a great day. Give a smile or a kind word to someone on the street today; you won't know how it might lift their spirits!

Posted by Bernie the Polite Girl for The Polite Team
berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com

A Quick Post

I was walking through the city this morning and it felt so good, I must say I felt like I was home because of when I was homeless, but I must also say it felt great to remember the past because in some way I felt very proud in myself for getting on my feet and doing what I do.

A guy stopped me walking past BOQ Building and said how he heard about me on the radio and started reading my blog and wanted to say “Hi”. As good as it felt I was also guilty because I started thinking how I don’t write on here as much as what I did as a homeless person.

You see I started thinking of all the things that I can do to help that many more as I know what homeless are going through. I even started thinking that even though my new business “Having a Go Coffee” at Coorparoo is helping people, it’s not enough. So I’m proud to say I’m also working on many new projects at the same time. I won’t say what yet because I’m still working them out. But I will say, each one of my projects will help people on their feet in some way or I wouldn’t put it together.

I have in the past posted on Facebook that the shop in Coorparoo is in fear of closing because it didn’t get enough customers. Well whatever I did was the trick because people came from everywhere and the sales doubled overnight. Thank you for that, it means I can now employ more people after helping them on their feet. There’s a famous saying and that’s “the money has to go into the cash register before money can go out”. Also on a great note the Suspended Coffee’s is in the plus of 28 for the first time which means we can help that many more people. AWESOME.

I have to say I feel like I’m doing something really great knowing I’m helping so many people. Really please everyone that reads this post go out and do just one thing to help someone and see how you feel making a small or big difference to someone you don’t know. I hope you’ll feel like I do and that’s your walking on air and being proud.

I was just thinking of writing a list of all the great things I’ve done to help people in the last 2 weeks, but to be honest just once in a while I want to keep things for just me to know. I will say I’ve helped two people by paying for plane tickets to return home to their families, clothes for people that needed them, furnisher and much more. I would never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do.

I hope you all have a great day and thank you for reading my blog.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

0412190011

Exciting Times

I’ll tell you now I’m more excited now than ever about things with helping homeless and people in need. I done a BBQ for the homeless and people in need at Wynnum, now we didn’t get a great number of people but I did take a step back and noticed all the new people that had come to help. New charity groups came by the bus loads.

To be honest I have never worked so little putting the event together. I would very much like to thank in a huge way Pastor Lui and crew, The Kotahi Aroha crew and The Tautoko Crew for all they done.

Now one couple really went far and beyond and that’s Katey Keating-McKee and her great husband. But I’m going to write a post on this couple later (Next Post) in full detail because there awesome.

After doing the BBQ event at Wynnum Pastor Lui is now going to be doing these BBQ’s once a month at Wynnum and helping people on a regular basis. I’m going to help him anyway I can and be proud that I started something great out that way. If you want to help with this please contact me and I’ll be very happy to pass on details.

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I HAVE DONE!!! I HAVE DONE IT!!! Well I have almost done it. Ha-ha. You see I posted here and sent out a lot of emails to get my first coffee cart. I raised enough to buy that cart and a lot of things I needed for it to be ready for operation. If you remember I am going to be helping people to get on their feet personally and then give them all the training needed, then given full time employment working the coffee cart. Plus 20cents from every coffee was going towards (Signal Flare) the homeless BBQ’s I do. So in fact I would be helping people on their feet and with just going to work and making coffee would in turn be helping others in the future. Awesome.

Everything was going great except I couldn’t get a lease for the cart in the city due to the fact my new business had no experience. Now one thing that keeps me going sometimes is the fact that I was homeless so I know what homeless and people in need are going through and I’ve achieved so much because of heart and the fact I just don’t give up.

Now sometimes I think some things are meant to be and happen for a reason, I just don’t understand why sometimes. Ha-ha. But this was meant to be because I just got approved for a shop lease which I can turn into a coffee shop. But the best part is it already has a nice looking counter and sink and things out back. It was a café/restaurant before. All I need to do is bring most of the stuff I was using on the coffee cart and put into the shop and away I go. Yes I’ll need tables, chairs, signs and a lot more, but I can do this. But here’s the best part, it’ll help maybe 12 full time staff which means I’ll be able to help at least 12 people to get on their feet, training and give an opportunity too.

Does anyone know where I can get free or cheap good second hand tables and chairs? I’m sure there’s going to be a few things needed but that’s the next thing on my list.

To make this even more helpful for homeless I’m going to be doing the “Suspended Coffee” which means people who have extra money can come and buy a coffee and it is put on hold and given to a homeless person.

Now to people reading this it may not seem like much, but to the 12 people it’ll be huge. I really wish you all could see my smile right now because I’m so happy just to be writing this. WOO HOO. Yeah.

I get the keys on Monday 19^th of August and having a Grand Opening on Saturday 24^th of August from 9am. So please add this date and come and celebrate with me for the opening of the first store.

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I want to write about a guy I have been helping along the way for a few years now, James (not his real name) has been homeless for at least 3½ years that I know of. I have seen him over time become more confident in himself to the fact I am proud of him. This morning he called me and we spoke for about an hour on the phone ( I called him back so it didn’t cost him) but I have some very exciting news. James has been in touch with his family and is ready to go home and in a way start fresh.

Now I must say I was trying hard to hold back the excitement while talking to him. He told me he had to pay a debt with getting Methadone at a chemist which he insisted on paying, but asked if I could pay for a ticket for him to go back home to his family. For me this is a huge breakthrough because I have talked about him doing this time and time again. YES now he wants too. I’m so excited right now. I can’t tell you how many “Pie’s and Cokes” I bought while talking about how everything okay to go home.

But here’s the thing. I normally pay for these things myself out of my own pocket but I can’t right now because I’m pouring all the money I can into getting the coffee shop (which is not enough) up and going to help many more people. So in saying that I’d like to know who is willing to pay for a guy to go back home after at least 3½ years  of being on the streets? It would be a plane fare to Sydney and enough money to pay for train and back to the airport and enough for drinks and of course a meal. $170 maybe.

As I said I normally pay for this myself so if anyone wants to think of this as loan then I will pay them back for this after I have setup the coffee shop.

To help please email me on grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

I’d like to thank you all for reading my blog and I hope you all have a great day.

Grant Richards

Grant the Polite Guy
0412 190 011

grantthepoliteguy@gmail.com

Raph

Today I would like to write about Raph. Raph (short for Raphael) was Brisbane’s first Big Issue vendor. He started to sell the Big Issue sixteen years ago and has since seen many people come and go, greeted countless passers-by, always tipping his hat, bought a meal for someone in need and didn’t make a fuss about it.

 Raph was always there. I did not know Raph that well, but the many times I saw him on Adelaide Street, near Officeworks, we always said hello. Without exception, Raph was kind, polite, he always seemed to have all the time in the world, he had the elegant manners of times gone by; who still tips their hat nowadays to emphasize their hello and their respect for a fellow human being? Raph did it every time, gracing people with his kindness.

Raph suddenly passed away this past Monday, 15 July 2013. The reactions of those who knew him showed how well he had lived his life, how he touched the lives of others simply by being there the way he was. Raph was a beacon of stability in a world of constant motion, rush and impermanence. Whatever else was going on in people's lives, Raph was always there. I am sure many, many people with me can picture him, at his pitch on Adelaide Street, Brisbane, next to Officeworks. Many people saw him every day, on their way to work or out for a day of shopping and no doubt, like me, exchanged hellos with him every time.

Raph’s passing and the community’s responses show that a life does not need to be extraordinary or high-profile to touch another life. At the end of the day, the size of our bank account, the number of academic degrees, what we did for a living or the number of worldly possessions do not matter. What does matter, and what leaves a lasting imprint on people’s hearts, is the way we stood in life and how we saw and treated our fellow human beings. Raph showed nothing but respect and kindness to anyone who passed by and took the time to say hello, and that is how he will be remembered. It is how I will remember him.

As you know, Grant and I organize BBQs for the Homeless and Others in Need. Our very next Signal Flare BBQ will be at Drevesen Park in Wynnum, Saturday 27 July, from 10am to 2pm. It is a special one. We dedicate this BBQ to Raph; he provided a meal to someone in need and we will be thinking of him and honouring him by doing the same at our BBQ and also handing out clothes, shoes, toiletries and much more. Feel free to check out the link and join us if you are free:  https://www.facebook.com/events/163548047162449/

I have been told Raph did not like photos of himself. I am sure though, that he would not mind this photo being placed here. As a matter of fact, I am sure he would be touched to see how people pay tribute to him, at the place where he always was without fail, and to know that even more people will pay tribute to him in their hearts. One of the Big Issue vendors I spoke with today said he would pay tribute to Raph by making sure life goes on, and by continuing to live his life as well as he could. What can be a better legacy than that... Raph, I hope you are surrounded by the calm and reassurance you gave so many people by simply being there… May you rest in peace…

Written by Bernie the Polite Girl from the Polite Team

berniethepolitegirl@gmail.com