Serve Like a Superhero: Season 3, Episode 3
In every superhero movie, there is a moment when someone says that what they are trying to accomplish is impossible… that it is better to give up. And this is when the superhero needs to show persistence, to keep on going despite the obstacles!
We particularly thought of the persistence of Wonder Woman… check out the clip at the bottom of this post! And we even found a kid’s book called “Wonder Woman Perseveres”!
In this episode, we feature a number of wonder women who are persevering despite obstacles! Matilde Newman, the City Leader of STC Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia, and her co-leader Fiorenza Provenzano share with us both the challenges of getting started in a new city and new culture, and what it has taken to push through in persistence. And we meet women who have gathered around them on the way, adding their own strengths to the endeavour!
Listen to this episode here:
Meet Fiorenza and Matilde — two indomitable women who have worked hard and persistently over the past year to start the first Serve the City community in Australia. Both women have extensive STC experience prior to coming to Australia: Matilde worked for STC Amsterdam, and Fiorenza volunteered with STC Brussels.
Matilde started out with STC Amsterdam in 2012 as first a volunteer, then a project leader, then a member of the core team. Eventually she made a job of it by taking over for the Amsterdam City Leader who was on maternity leave. And then she stayed on to start the youth volunteering program Ympact 1020, which is still going strong today!
You can listen to an episode of our podcast featuring Ympact 1020, the program Matilde started, here: Hope: Everyone’s Got Talent!
As s a young mother, Matilde sometimes brought her kids to her favorite project in a nursing home. Here is Matilde with her two sons, Timothy and Charlie, helping out with Bingo.
When she moved to Australia in 2018, Matilde had it in mind that she would start Serve the City there in the Gold Coast. And in spite of the obstacles of settling into a new culture and going through COVID lockdowns, she persisted with that dream. She did the training to become a STC City Leader, and started making contacts for volunteers and partnerships. Here is Matilde with her husband, two boys and a handful of friends on their first serving project in August 2023, at a local community garden.
Rebecca, the disabled lady who managed the garden, became their first STC volunteer! In spite of the fact that she uses a walker and needs help with transport, she persists in participating on STC community day projects.
Thanks to the persistence of Matilde and Fiorenza, the volunteer community has grown, and Serve the City Australia is now an officially registered non-profit!
Here volunteers gather for the kick-off of a Community Day in October 2024 in the local library where they meet, and celebrate the incorporation of STC Australia with a cake. On this particular Community Day, volunteers could choose from four different projects… pictures below!
The first project was done in partnership with Clean Up Australia, in a local park near the library. It allowed families with children to volunteer… not the usual in a place where it is normal to have background checks and CV approval before participating in volunteering. Matilde believes that STC Australia must persist in making one-off volunteering normal, to create better communities.
Aren’t they adorable? The second project involves volunteers bringing their dogs into a nursing home to interact with the clients. Matilde’s previous experience in nursing homes meant she particularly wanted to do a project like this, but ran into roadblocks with nursing home regulations. However, Matilde’s persistence resulted in contact with a nursing home where the husband of a Core Team member stays. The team is sure that the good experience of the staff in this centre will open up others!
Another project, also for the benefit of nursing homes, was to create a Curiosity Cupboard, a portable cabinet that would contain items to stimulate conversation with elderly people and could be given to them as gifts. Shan Berserik, one of the Core Team members (far left, next to Matilde), bought a cabinet from a thrift store. Dio, a relative of Fiorenza who is also a carpenter, came along with his family and helped transform it into a usable object.
The final project of the day was a restoration of the fence and container garden at the house of Heather (far right above). Heather had recently spent a long time in the hospital and many of her plants had died. She approached Matilde at the meeting of a community garden run by Yvette (far left), and asked for help from Serve the City. Volunteers donated tons of plants to restore the garden — including Rebecca, the disabled lady in whose garden STC first worked (next to Heather).
Matilde, Fiorenza, and the ladies of the Core Team, have continued to keep on going persistently to get STC Australia started. Despite obstacles and setbacks and people saying “We can’t,” they have said, “No, but that’s what I’m going to do.” Like Diana in the video below, they are wonder women… they do not give up, and they will reach their goal!
