Poverty – a hidden reality in the Greek community

Eleni (not her real name) was handing out food supplies outside a Greek Orthodox church last week. She often helps Greeks in need and there is more need than many of us recognise. Eleni was approached by a woman seeking help.

She seemed desperate Eleni said to Neos Kosmos.

Eleni volunteers with PRONIA, Victoria’s peak welfare service for Greeks based in Brunswick and Oakleigh.

PRONIA provides services in aged care, disability, gambling addiction, and family breakdown. It delivers support to Greek Australians in need.

We often hear and relay stories of those in our community who epitomise of the ‘migrant success story’, but that narrative too often hides those that have fallen on hard times.

“Many Greeks need help and a lot of them receive it. We live in a nation which is community oriented, and many of us are willing to help those who struggle,” said Eleni.

Eleni talked to Neos Kosmos about the woman that had approached her.

“She was anxious and stressed” and her speech was “rapid and incoherent.”

“I’ll be with you in a few moments” Eleni assured her, as she helped someone else, but the woman in need seemed overwhelmed, oblivious and desperate, so she persisted.

“She kept on talking and I had to calm her down,” Eleni told Neos Kosmos.

“After a few moments I went to her, and asked ‘what can I do for you?’ She needed help, and was rambling. I spent time trying to calm her, I wanted to understand her to know how I could help. I asked her to slow down.”

Eleni asked her if she needed meals and food supplies… she did.

The mother of three needed assistance,

“I gave her ready-made meals and two bags full of food, then asked her if she had a car. The woman said yes, but said that she couldn’t carry the bags” the Good Samaritan told Neos Kosmos.

This was the start, the help continued in other ways and a friendship soon blossomed.

“I said, ‘show my son where your car is, and he will carry the bags for you ‘”

“She soon calmed down, I began to understand her, and listened to her story.”

Eleni took all the time needed to calm the distressed woman and learned part of her story in the process. “I said ‘take your time and not to be frightened’”

She wanted to build trust. The distressed woman was a single mother of three, she suffered serious financial strain, and was waiting for surgery. Unlike many in our community, she had no-one to turn to.

Sadly, this is more common than we want to recognise. Many Greek Australians suffer financial pressures often made even more acute due to health issues. Those with children, feel even more duress.

They both went to see a priest, the core reason the distressed woman came to church.

“This woman had touched my heart. I have no idea why, but I wanted to follow her.”

“As she got to her car, I stopped her and asked if she got the help that she required.”

The woman said the priest “was too busy” and he referred her to another priest. Eleni asked, ‘Do you trust me to give me your phone number?’

After a check-in phone call, Eleni offered to do grocery shopping for her. When she delivered the groceries, they began to talk, and her story unfolded.

Every week, Eleni goes to her assistance. She drops off food supplies and they are becoming friends.

“One night she rang me, and we had a beautiful conversation. She told me about her family, and I did too. She opened to me and I to her. I met her children; they are very polite.”

“I will support her financially and emotionally as long as she needs me – I am there for her.”

Eleni has long aided those in our community who need help. She had previously worked in aged care for Fronditha Care.

There she took people to medical appointments, did housework, and took them out for shopping and coffee. Often it was about alleviating loneliness in old people, to be a friend, to sit down and have a chat.

“I got to know them well and they loved me, and I loved them back.”

She found it rewarding. “I didn’t see it as a job, and I met beautiful people.”

It seems that the focus on success and the ascendance of our compatriots from hardship can hide the poverty, loneliness, mental and physical health issues still impacting on our community.

The shame of poverty, is more acute in the fishbowl environment of the Greek Australian community. With ‘the migrant success story’ as a leading narrative – gossip, and judgement makes the request for assistance even more difficult for Greek Australians who may have not ‘made it.’

Eleni craves no recognition, she helps for love. She is the embodiment of the Good Samaritan.

We can all spare time and help, or at the very least be aware of those of our community who struggle.

Those that do not fit the success and aspiration template of Greek migration – for various reasons, many outside of their control – need to be brought closer into the arms of the Greek community.