First City Missioner for Palmerston North
Bishop Justin commissioned the Rev Dr Franco Vaccarino as the first city missioner of Palmerston North on February 18th.
Rev Franco Vaccarino with Andrew Carson, Board Chair - Palmerston North City Mission
The City Mission has a rich history that dates back to the early 1970s. It was initiated by members of the Mothers' Union who took action to assist their elderly parents. This eventually led to the establishment of the Anglican Social Work Trust and the Friendship Centre. Since then, the Friendship Centre has provided valuable services to senior members of the community in Te Papaīoea.
In late 2018, the trust board decided to broaden its scope and profile to meet the needs of the wider community. The trust re-branded and became City Mission Palmerston North in 2019, reflecting its new focus on serving the wider community. The vision was to be in the very fabric of Palmerston North's social services, weaving different providers and organisations together. The aim is to partner with these social services to prevent the duplication of services. Andrew Carson, the Chair of the Board, said "we see there is a great need in this space, and we are excited that Franco has joined us as city missioner to lead us into the next stage. We have good foundations where we come from and we want to keep doing those well, but we have an opportunity to weave a Kingdom of God construct into the fabric of our city”.
City Mission Palmerston North has now expanded its services and partners with Age Concern to offer a Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll class, which is a fun, low-impact, dance-themed activity for people aged 65 and over. The class is designed to assist with strength, balance, agility, coordination, and rhythm. City Mission also offers a parenting programme for new parents to explore parenting and their children's development and learning. Furthermore, City Mission offers English language support for senior former refugees.
The City Mission team comprises three staff members, Franco, Anna Clark (trust manager), and Judy Gibb (social coordinator), and a dedicated team of volunteers who give countless hours to the work of City Mission.
The mission of City Mission Palmerston North is to work with individuals, families, and whānau to provide support, advocacy, and empowerment to achieve equitable outcomes and wellbeing. City Mission is currently scoping the specific post-COVID needs of the community in Palmerston North by engaging with different churches, non-government organisations, service providers, and the city council.
