Havilah

Havilah is a three-hours-a-day, three-days-a-week drop-in service based at St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland in Arbroath. The project was named after an area of land mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis, known for its natural resources and being a place of abundant goodness.

What motivated you to get started?

Havilah came into being as a result of the unease felt by a small group of church members regarding the lack of initiatives by our congregation to serve the most excluded and disadvantaged in our community. This ministry of St. Andrew's Church was launched in August 2006 but, if truth be told, nothing much happened in the first year. Very few people came to the drop-in service. However, following that first year, the project really began to take off and we haven't looked back since.

What does your work involve?

Havilah came into being out of a heartfelt desire to serve those who find themselves existing at the very edge our communities. Even so, we had no idea that the provision of a drop-in service would lead us into what has now become an essential relationship with those who live with serious addiction problems.

What started as a trickle of visitors has become a steady stream of long-term addicts. Now, on average, we offer an unconditional welcome to between 25 and 40 young men and women every session. Currently, we offer three sessions each week. These are drop-in sessions run from 12noon to 3pm. The long term plan is to expand to five days a week.

Each day, tea and toast is available, as well as homemade soup – all of it provided by members of the congregation, so that our guests have to pay nothing. Undoubtedly, this is what draws many of them in the first place but it isn't long before they begin to ask why the Church is offering this service! Once these conversations begin, the young men and women are not slow to share with us their 'stories', which often include horrific tales of abuse and neglect. Our 25-strong team of volunteers, together with our staff members, listen without making judgment and, in many cases, are able to help clients make decisions about their futures. Many of them feel desperate for life-change, for freedom from addiction and for a new start. To that end, we point them, when they are ready, towards rehab or reduction programmes.

In all of this we work with the Alcohol and Drug Partnership of Angus Council, the Criminal Justice Department, the police, Teen Challenge and other such organisations involved with this work and who share our vision for recovery.

What difference has it made?

That Havilah is making an impact in Arbroath is beyond question. Though it is a long road for all concerned, with many twists and turns along the way, we are seeing young men and women breaking free from addiction and taking up the 'normal lives' that they so desire. Some have gone on to full-time work with Teen Challenge rehab centres, others have taken up college places, and some have managed to rebuild contacts with their children and families. The ripple effect is immeasurable. For every addict who gets clean, a family experiences some kind of healing and new hope is found. Beyond that, crime rates fall and society as a whole benefits from the move that our clients make from chaotic lifestyles to order and normality.

For every 'success' there are many failures and disappointments. Yet, we go on, believing that reaching out to this particular community is the very stuff of the Gospel as Jesus lived it.

None of this is easy going. For every 'success' there are many failures and disappointments. Yet, we go on, believing that reaching out to this particular community is the very stuff of the Gospel as Jesus lived it.

In some ways, this work has been hugely challenging for the congregation but, in the main, the result has been much increased levels of compassion and understanding. Working out what 'Everyone Welcome' really means is a lifetime challenge and we will continue to try to allow God to shape us according to the Gospel.

What have you learned?

Lots! It has been hard, demanding work, often with no particular successes or breakthroughs, and yet rewarding nonetheless.

We have learned never to judge, to be less naive, and always to believe that inside every 'druggie, junkie, scumbag' there is a child of God. To see some of these young men and women now clean, more alive than they've ever been before, is what has made it all worthwhile. We've seen for ourselves the truth that God can change lives dramatically. We wouldn't swap that for anything.

Now what?

The future is bright. We have acquired a new building from which we will operate our services from early 2012. This will allow us to expand the service and to add new aspects to our work.

We plan, for example, to begin a peer support group for those who are in recovery; a group for young mums who are struggling with addiction; and a group for parents of addicts.

We are audacious enough to believe that we really can make a difference and that the whole community will benefit. The Havilah of the Book of Genesis was a place of abundant goodness. We want our Havilah to be a place of abundant goodness for those who visit, where they can experience the river-flow of God's love and care for them.

More information at www.arbroathstandrews.org.uk