A reason to get up in the morning 

Food is a simple thing that transcends cultural and socio-economic barriers.  It brings people together, provides a hobby for cooking enthusiasts and most importantly gives essential sustenance to the body. All these elements are the reason people gather each week at the Chelsea Community Breakfast to share in the most important meal of the day.

What started as merely an idea of some of the local churches as a way to reach out to the community, came into fruition when a cook with a “heart for the people” offered her skills.

This led Neil Peters of Chelsea Uniting Church and Steve Rose of Chelsea CareWorks to partner together and organise, with church and community support, what is now attended by people from varied walks of life.

“We didn’t want to just attract homeless people, but everyone in the community.” Mr Peters said.

Funded by SHARE, one of the aims of the breakfast has been to encourage marginalised members of society to improve their social skills by mingling with new faces – which has proven to increase confidence and employability skills. Among the guests that attend the weekly event are local business people, eager to share their advice about the work place.

Mr Peters said up to 80 people attend the breakfast which includes bacon, eggs and sausages and around 30 have started attending the Thursday lunch which has only been running a few months.

“Some of the people who attend are homeless, some have mental illness issues – and some people just don’t want to eat alone.  We attract a number of people with disabilities because of the loneliness factor.”

Responding to urgent needs

The people who walk through the doors at UnitingCare Werribee Support and Housing are  experiencing all manner of harsh circumstances. Some struggle with unemployment or simply the rising costs of living, others face the stark realities of homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction.

Situated in one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia, UnitingCare Werribee often faces the struggle of how to best manage its limited resources.

“There are huge needs in Wyndham around the unaddressed issues concerning physical and human resource infrastructure,” UnitingCare Werribee Support & Housing CEO Carol Muir says.

“Ten years ago the population of Wyndham was about 70,000 now it is getting close to 200,000 and there is a growth of up to 400,000 expected by the year 2020. Support infrastructure is yet to catch up to the basic needs of the community.”

The agency currently provides an array of youth, housing, support and emergency relief programs offering clients, some of the community’s most vulnerable individuals, a holistic range of support services.

During the financial year 2010-2011, more than 4,000 individual food vouchers and an additional 1,300 food parcels were provided to residents through UnitingCare Werribee Support & Housing support programs. Despite this there are always increasing demands on services and a struggle to support those most vulnerable in the community.

“This past financial year there has been a much higher demand on our services,” Ms Muir reports. “More and more people were lining up for emergency food vouchers and becoming distressed about missing out. When we saw this happening we thought – if people didn’t stand in a line there’d be less stress, queue jumping and anxiety about missing out.

“It’s sad we’ve got to do this because people are so financially vulnerable that they need to come in that early and we thought; what can we do to make it more bearable for them?,” Ms Muir says. “So our staff and volunteers started doing a barbeque breakfast in the morning because it was so cold.

“People were really delighted and we found they would move around and socialise with one another making the whole experience less confronting,” Ms Muir said. “That was one of the outcomes of us recognising the need of a particular group of vulnerable people.”

Commenting on the support the agency receives from the community Ms Muir is quick to note SHARE’s ongoing support as being critical to the day-to-day running of the agency and its support services.

SHARE provided funding for a staff volunteer coordinator to support and assist the agency’s small army of 65 dedicated volunteers.

“To be able to support our volunteer base through SHARE’s grant has been so vital for us, it’s hard to put a price on that sort of support really. It really has been a godsend,” Ms Muir says.

From the lower depths to Shakespeare

St Kilda’s busy strip of shops in Carlisle Street is known for its eclectic mix of young professionals, buskers and hipsters – set amongst the more tempered milieu of the homeless.

The vibrant community hub has found a way to combine these unique characteristics into a creative partnership.

Melbourne theatre company Inotrope, collaborated with the St Kilda UnitingCare Drop In Centre in creating an acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

It was thought regular visitors to the drop-in centre who suffer from an array of drug, alcohol, physical and mental health problems would add some grit to Gorky’s classic play depicting the most impoverished and marginalised in society.

“Since then it’s been a story of collaboration from start to finish,” Sharon Kirschner, who established the drop-in centre’s drama group three years ago, says.

“From the outset of putting this production together both groups workshopped and discussed the themes of journey and reality and the idea of a good society.”

Not surprisingly the close knit community amongst visitors and staff at the drop-in centre has fostered an environment that encourages all involved to flourish despite difficult circumstances.

“Participants are given an opportunity to move away from seeing themselves as patients towards someone who can contribute and give something back,” St Kilda UnitingCare CEO Shane Lawler says.

“I’ve seen people who when first met were unable to string a sentence together – let alone be up on stage performing in a professional production.”

“The audience can’t tell the amateurs from the professionals. It has been a transformation that takes people out of their daily lives and gives them an opportunity to be recognised in a different light,” Mr Lawlor says.

For long stretches of time Mark, a regular visitor to the drop-in centre, found it simply unbearable to face the outside world. Struggling with serious health problems, being a part of the drama group has given him a much needed link to mainstream society.

“It was a reason to get out of bed and makes you feel important. Even just getting you active in that fun and laughing environment. There is always lots of laughter when we get together,” Mark says.

“Opening night was outstanding and so emotional, it was a feeling I’ve never felt before.”

The production received national media exposure and a string of acclaimed sell-out performances were held at Theatre Works in Melbourne.

“The performances have allowed people to redefine themselves as actors and not patients,” Ms Kirschner said.

In many ways this unlikely partnership embodies much of SHARE’s work in its ability to partner with an array of seemingly disparate groups to achieve something special where it is needed most.

A chilly reminder

It’s hard to imagine that a nutritious breakfast can be made for $1 in Melbourne. But that’s what is being achieved through the Winter Breakfast Program at Prahran Mission, thanks to a group of volunteers and a SHARE grant of $15,000.

The program provides free breakfasts to anyone off the streets during Winter, five days a week, continuing a legacy that has run for decades helping those most in need across the south Melbourne community.

“Winter is a time when the competing needs for warmth and shelter leaves little for a basic meal – sometimes the only meal for the day. It also provides an opportunity for volunteers from the public to make a difference to their community,” says Prahran Mission’s, Maxine Miller.

More than 100 free breakfasts are provided every week at the Mission to those in the community who are affected by mental illness, debilitated, struggling families and socially isolated.

“Now that the Prahran Mission’s renovations have been completed, the program can cater for more people,” says Ms Miller.

More than 100 people are found to be living rough on the street in central Melbourne at any time and many more ‘live’ in the city’s suburban parks and around buildings.

One in 154 Australians sought help from a homelessness support service in Australia in the last year and nearly one quarter of homeless people are children.

Nearly half of people seeking homeless support are turned away. Due to under-resourcing, two thirds of homeless children and 80% of homeless families are turned away.

“There are definitely more people coming in each year and we’re very grateful to the SHARE grant, the volunteers and other donations that allow us to continue this very important service,” Ms Miller says.