Inside an old brick building of a decommissioned men’s hostel in South Brisbane, volunteers in high-vis vests prepare for another busy day at the new location of homeless outreach centre, Emmanuel City Mission. Source: The Catholic Leader.
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.
Emmanuel City Mission is only its third week open at the new site, but the team is 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.
Mr Noonan said scaled-up amenities like walk-in fridges and freezers completely changed their long-term food stability, as they were now able to accept large donations from groups like OzHarvest.
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.
FULL STORY
Emmanuel City Mission opens its doors to new location (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
