Emmanuel City Mission is a step closer to providing ongoing overnight sanctuary for people sleeping rough on Brisbane’s streets after a $500,000 gift from the Brisbane City Council in its 2025-26 budget. Source: The Catholic Leader.
ECM operations manager Tim Noonan said the team and the community behind them were “immensely grateful” to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and the council for the gift.
“It’s not a safe place on Brisbane’s streets at night, it’s dangerous, and there’s no dignity,” Mr Noonan said.
“It’s hard to transform your life and move forward if you can’t have a night where you’re safe and where you can rest.
“I always think about the Scripture (John 21:17) where Jesus tells Peter, ‘if you love me, feed my sheep’.
“We really want to provide that safety and sanctuary for people at night who can’t find it anywhere else.
“And the council have recognised … that there’s just no other service that could take what we see is up to 100 people off the streets at night and give them somewhere safe to go.”
Mr Noonan said they were working with local and state governments to get the overnight sanctuary running by September.
He said the plan was to begin one night a week and expand in increments until they were open all hours, seven days a week.
Mr Noonan said the work they did on the days and nights of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred “really put us on the radar with the council”.
“The city council really stepped in when the cyclone hit,” he said.
“When we decided we’d open the doors, they were really working hand in glove with us.
“They said, ‘look, we’re so pleased you’re doing this, all the other services are closed, what can we help with?’ And true to their word, they funded all the additional costs after the cyclone had passed.”
FULL STORY
Brisbane City Council donates $500,000 to expand overnight sanctuary at Emmanuel City Mission (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
