The Salvation Army Doorways Provides Support for Hundreds of Vulnerable Australians Every Day

Since launching on 1 April 2015, The Salvation Army’s new ‘Doorways’ program has been assisting hundreds of Australians in need right across New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

The new delivery method – Doorways – is an innovative, best-practice model to run and manage Salvation Army emergency relief (ER) and financial counselling services across 48 regions in New South Wales, Queensland and Australian Capital Territory.

Salvation Army spokesperson, Major Bruce Harmer, says our teams are working hard to deliver the services which are obviously in great demand right across the community.

“From the moment our new Doorways service went live, our team has had an influx of calls from people who are in desperate need of assistance,” Major Harmer said.

“Our aim through this new system is to help break the cycle of poverty by providing individualized case management and working with individuals and families through their complex needs.”

Major Bruce Harmer says as with any new service, there have been some teething problems, and The Salvation Army is working hard to resolve these issues.

“There have been longer waiting times than first anticipated which have been regrettable,” Major Harmer said.

“We are working on these issues and hope in the near future will be able to increase the number of calls which we can receive in a substantial way which should result in a reduction in wait times.”

Before the launch of Doorways, the model was successfully trialed in selected metropolitan areas of Sydney and the Illawarra with these trials proving highly successful.

“When we ran these trials in 2013-2014, we received very positive feedback from both case managers as well as clients,” Major Harmer said.

“Our aim is to break the cycle of poverty and we know Doorways can go a long way to achieving this goal.”