CHILLY midwinter winds tear down the laneways of South Brisbane outside, but inside, in the old brick building of a decommissioned men’s hostel, volunteers in high-vis vests rush about preparing for another busy day at the new location of homeless outreach centre Emmanuel City Mission.
Operations manager Tim Noonan says with housing stress on the rise and a cold snap descending, he expects more people will be reaching out to them with no end in sight.
It is already a busy Thursday morning at the centre.
A few people line-up for hot drinks at the coffee station, two more are fitting woolly jackets at the no-cost Vinnies store set-up inside the centre, a few more sit in the outdoors area doing laundry, and another sits in front of the tabernacle in the little chapel.
Coming through the doors are a cavalcade of student volunteers from one of the Catholic schools in north Brisbane, carrying in boxes packed with food donations.
It is only Emmanuel City Mission’s third week open at the new site and the team are already seeing 120 patrons a day.
The team moved one and a half streets up from their old location on Merivale Street to the corner of Cordelia and Peel Streets – beside St Mary’s Church and occupying what was once the St Vincent de Paul men’s hostel.
The new location was exactly what they needed, Mr Noonan said.
It was many times bigger than their previous location and the layout provided a lot more security, privacy and opportunity.
Scale was everything.
The old location had two toilets, this one had dozens of private toilet and shower spaces; the old location had portable fridges, this one had several large walk-in fridges and freezers; the old location used the same space for Sunday Mass as outreach services, this one had a dedicated space for Mass and a Eucharistic chapel.
Mr Noonan said scaled-up amenities like walk-in fridges and freezes completely changed their long-term food stability, as they were now able to accept large donations from groups like OzHarvest.
He said before they had to reject large donations, but now they could accept them, use them or store them.
The addition of an outdoor area outside the front doors was also another simple but important change.
Mr Noonan said it meant people with dogs, which was a large proportion of people sleeping rough, now had a place to leave them while they relaxed inside.
They also now had dedicated spaces for a nurse from St Vincent’s Care Services who works three days a week and a local GP who sees people one day a week.
Fitting out the old hostel and getting it up to code cost $1.3 million, Mr Noonan said, but it could have been much more if not for the generosity of many people involved in the works.
He thanked the donors and the volunteers, saying the cost was well worth it to bring the hands and feet of Jesus to people living on the margins.
Volunteer Patrick Grieshaber agreed.
He heard ECM founder Roby Curtis speak at an Ignite Conference many years ago and said he had “never cried so much” in a talk before, hearing the stories he had to tell about his ministry to the homeless.
“Everyone around here, he welcomes in, he has for years and that’s what I like about here – we get to serve on the streets,” he said.
He said he had volunteered many places in the past, but ECM was special and a place where he felt empowered to talk more openly about his faith.
He said people often had assumptions about people who are sleeping rough, but it was important to challenge those assumptions – to go, meet the people and serve as Christ’s hands and feet.
Mr Noonan said there was a lot of energy and hope for the future at the new site.
“This space is perfect,” he said.
He said it is a chance to show the world the Church is outward looking, ready for mission and caring for the poor.
