Who We Are

• Vital Connection originated in 1995 with the express intention of helping the disadvantaged “streeties” of inner city Brisbane. Primarily this help took the form of providing food once a week via the “Soup Kitchen” van that came direct to the streeties in a dilapidated old 1976 Ford Transit truck with a cool room structure bolted to its chassis. Extra assistance was also given in the form of pre-loved clothes and blankets.
• Over the intervening years there were times of real struggle that required true grit to continue, but Vital Connection survived and has recently begun to grow and flourish.
• The very dedicated team that had worked so hard for so long for those in our community who needed their help, themselves received assistance when they were joined by new dedicated volunteers with the same vision, and then they were “adopted” by ADRA Australia, a couple of congregations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and some Brisbane-based commercial organisations interested in helping the disadvantaged in their community.
  
• With these adoptions came the need for Vital Connection to undergo some structural change - a small group of dedicated freelance volunteers became a larger organisation and thus required a more professional system of management. It is now under the control of a Management Committee whose members can boast quite a broad range of necessary skills. A Council of Governance oversees its work.
• Vital Connection has not only analysed its present “soup kitchen” operation and tried to improve it and resolve any problems faced, it has also undertaken a series of strategic planning exercises to determine where it wanted to go from here
• The future foreseen will not only entail the provision of the short-term basic support for the “streeties” - help that has been provided in the past; but also sees an extension of services into the provision for a wider clientele of programs with a longer-term emphasis and benefit - programs that can help to prevent rather than just combat the social ills found in our communities.
• Our programs will not compete with those of other organisations but will be complementary as far as is possible - attempting to find a special niche that is not covered by others. The intention is to co-operate with all the other organisations working in this field, referring clients to whichever agency has the special skills and services necessary for a particular set of circumstances.
• The primary target group for this new direction is young adults, in the 18 to 35 age bracket, those “at risk” in our community through alcohol or drug addiction. These are the leaders of our society’s future who because of their lack of experience are more vulnerable and less able to make mature decisions that will affect the whole of their lives.
• We have registered our business name with the Office of Fair Trading - Business Number – BN20025490.
• Vital Connection is a welfare service agency of the South Queensland Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.