‘If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today’: How the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal changes lives

It was a case of being in the “right place at the right time” for Adelaide man Allen, who says a chance meeting three years ago completely changed his life.

Kaurna man Allen has never forgotten being an eight-year-old in the 1970s and feeling uplifted by the Salvation Army Band.

His mother, who was a member of the stolen generation, would take him into the city every Sunday morning just to see and hear the musicians play.

“I loved it. That’s where I got my love of music from,” Allen, now 53, recalls.

But he was also forever changed during his formative years, by abuse.

The perpetrator was someone who should have been his protector.

“It was at the hands of my father,” Allen says. “I went through any sort of abuse you can think of. I think what got me through at the time is I was thinking that when I was old enough, and big enough, I would deal with him … but then he committed suicide when I was 10. The person who was to blame and who I needed to take it out on was gone, so I was left with it. I couldn’t take it out on anyone else.”

Allen says alcohol abuse had me by “the scruff of the neck”. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Allen also didn’t want to burden anyone by telling them what had happened to him. Instead he turned to alcohol.

“I was pretty much a jack of all trades, master of bugger all, as they say,” he says of his career path which has included work in the public sector and education sector.

“Because of (alcohol abuse) over the years, I couldn’t really hold a job down. Things would be going okay for six, seven, eight months, and then not … and then another job would be lost. I always had that work ethic. I had to keep working, so I would pick myself up again. But there was always this alcohol abuse in the background that had me by the scruff of the neck …”

Allen today. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Three years ago Allen, who was by then homeless, hit rock bottom when he woke in a sobering-up centre in Whitmore Square.
At the time he did not realise it was run by The Salvation Army.

While waking up there wasn’t unusual for him to do – it was he says “just somewhere to go” – that morning he didn't just get up and leave.

“I was sitting in the foyer and this lady came up to me and she said ‘I’ll be with you in a moment for your appointment’,” Allen recalls, adding he wasn’t the client she was due to see.

The case of mistaken identity turned out to be life-changing.

When the man with the booking was a no show, the lady, Pam, offered him the spot.

“I went into her office and that was it,” Allen says. “That was the start of where I am today. I talked to her for a good hour about where I was at, a bit of my history …”

Their conversation led to Allen immediately moving into emergency accommodation – “she literally walked me across Whitmore Square to Baptist Care” – and, after a time, his own home.

“If it wasn’t for Pam that morning, and that guy not turning up to his appointment, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today,” Allen says of his being in the right place at the right time.

“I know I’ve had a lot a lot of help over the years … (I would say to myself) ‘I can handle it myself, I’ll be okay’, knowing deep down that I won’t be okay. That morning, for some reason, I just fell into Pam’s arms and I let her take control of where I was going.”

Allen went from being controlled by his addiction to alcohol – “I honestly thought that I didn’t have blood in me, I thought I was running on port” – to being in control.

Allen today. Picture: Kelly Barnes

About 12 months after he connected with Pam, Allen spoke at the Homelessness SA Frontline Workers Forum, where he discovered he was more than just a number.

“I met so many people there who were involved (in my case) behind the scenes and they all knew me,” he says.

Pam had never forgotten him, and had been advocating for him, since their initial meetings.

Allen likes to tell the story of how she has been in his corner – and that he has a whole community she’s helped him build – to encourage others to not only seek help but stick with the program when the going gets tough.

Having rebuilt his life and his relationship with his family, which includes a son who now lives with him, Allen is also focused on giving back.

Kaurna man Allen conducting a Welcome to Country for The Salvation Army. Picture: Supplied

He regularly delivers the Welcome to Country at Salvation Army events, such as the recent Red Shield Appeal launch at Adelaide Convention Centre, and is on the board of Homelessness SA as someone with lived experience.

Allen also volunteers for Orange Sky – a mobile laundry service for the homeless – and Pilgrim Uniting Church’s Sunday Night Tea, which provides meals and company for people going through tough times.

And his love of music has also found expression again.

Allen plays the didgeridoo. Picture: Supplied

Allen, who plays the didgeridoo, has been collaborating with Noriko Tadano, a virtuoso master of traditional Japanese instrument, the Shamisen.

“All of these things that have happened since that morning, three years ago, it’s just been incredible, “ he says.

“I had a heart attack five and a half years ago, and I was dead for 45 minutes. When I came back from that, I thought ‘I’m here for a reason. And there’s some reason that God has brought me back’, but, at the time, I didn’t know what it was … but now it’s all falling into place and you’ve got to say that one little lady (Pam) started it all. Oh, my goodness.”

*For more information about The Salvation Army’s Toward Home – Resolve program phone [phone].

*To donate to the Red Shield Appeal phone 13 SALVOS (13 72 58) or visit salvationarmy.org.au

*Donations to the Advertiser Foundation Blanket Appeal can be made here: https://shoutforgood.com/fundraisers/blanketappeal2024 - all donations over $2 are tax deductible.