Ipswich pastor Louise De Busch seeks Campfire Healing support to save jobs

An organisation critical to the Ipswich community could go bust and leave 10 First Nations people without work or income. Here’s why there is a petition for crucial support.

Louise De Busch (right) began Campfire Healing with her mother Venus De Busch (left) about three years ago. Picture: Supplied

Ten First Nations people could be out of work if their Ipswich organisation does not soon receive financial support to keep it going.

Cross of Calvary senior pastor Louise De Busch launched indigenous organisation Campfire Healing with her mother about three years ago after receiving a generous donation of clothes she felt compelled to distribute to people in need.

Armed with little money but a shared vision, Ms De Busch and her mother opened a second-hand shop on Bell St packed with clothes, food hampers, and other essential goods.

“We (saw) the need with mental health just take over our community,” she said.

“So now our services have grown more.”

She said their organisation was “community-controlled”, supported almost entirely through church donations and National Disability Insurance Scheme funding.

Bev Martin, Malae Va’Aulu, Venus De Busch, and Delilah Kilpatrick pictured outside Beulah Servo and Cafe which generates income for Campfire Healing. Picture: Supplied

Campfire Healing grew more quickly than expected and had to relocate in September to a site where the Blackstone Service Station once was.

It now operates as Beulah Servo and Cafe, an op shop, and a food outlet.

“The community work that we do still stands and we’re now at a place where we can’t be sustained by the church and we do need funding to keep going,” Ms De Busch said.

“We need to keep our people employed.”

Ms De Busch recently created a petition asking the government to help fund a community centre at Campfire Healing’s new site where the group could continue to provide “crucial” support — including clothing, food, and housing — to the Ipswich community.

“Without support, the group runs the risk of going out of business,” she said.

“There is an urgency because 10 Aboriginal staff members will lose their jobs if support for (Campfire Healing) to set up as a community centre in the neighbourhood is not met.”

Ms De Busch said the centre would ideally be a place where service agencies could run programs such as cultural mentoring and healing camps, NDIS could host group activities, a soup kitchen could operate, and a community garden could flourish and be accessed by people in need.

It would be a communal space available to everyone that offers socialisation, food, clothing, and general support.

Ms De Busch said the group needed about $200,000 to establish the centre, without which 10 people would lose their jobs and “everything that we’ve worked for will be lost”.