By Tanya Steele
As winter continues on the volunteers at the Yarra Valley Winter Shelter support people in need who are experiencing homelessness, striving to fill a great need in the community.
People who have accessed the service and are experiencing homelessness say their greatest challenges lie in things like being utterly ignorant of the system, the housing crisis and the stigma of being homeless.
“Not knowing where to start and the system is difficult to navigate, especially if you have mental health issues,” they said.
“There’s a gap in support for men.”
Managing Director Jenny Willetts from Stable One said the Yarra Valley Sleepout continues to provide a service that is greatly needed by people experiencing homelessness.
“We knew there was a need for it, there is no crisis accommodation in the Yarra Valley,” she said.
“Homelessness and loneliness go hand in hand, the people we meet have often got nobody in their lives anymore.”
The group has worked together across denominations since 2016 to open local churches in winter for people to have temporary accommodation options in the colder parts of the year.
“Winter shelter is churches that open up their buildings to let people come in and have a meal at night, dormitory style, sleeping in the church on camp beds and mattresses, and then breakfast the next morning, then off they go, and we open up again the next night,” Ms Willetts said.
“It’s not just people from your church that can be involved, so community members who just want to do something can get involved as well,” she said.
Ms Willetts said the operation takes a lot of volunteers and the organisation is always looking for more people to lend a hand.
“It’s 122 shifts a week to fill,” she said.
A daytime support centre also offers lunch, laundry and shower facilities and additional opportunities for connection and referrals as part of the program.
The initiative has reached across community and church denominations to pull together and Ms Willets said it’s a great thing because they couldn’t do it on their own.
“For example, there’s a church in Wandin with a very aged congregation, and small, maybe 30 people, but they’ve got a great building, and they stuck a shower in it,” she said.
The concept and planning have spread throughout Victoria and Queensland with nine other programs beginning in other areas.
“It’s grown a lot since we began, there’s a real need everywhere,” she said.
Ms Willetts has said that the people in the community experiencing homelessness have shared with her that they would like the broader community to understand the position they are in.
“There is an absolute loss of pride and humanity and there is this terrible way people look at you and the judgement they have,” they said.
“We’re all vulnerable – it doesn’t take much to put you in a difficult situation – if you don’t already have mental health issues, you will end up with them.”
