Haven from the streets
A LONG-awaited drop-in haven for Geelong’s homeless and isolated population has finally opened.
To be officially launched today, the Lazarus Community Centre is in a repurposed part of the Old Geelong Gaol site, providing a safe, daytime space for people who have nowhere else to go.
It’s been quietly operating for three weeks, and there are already regulars who are making use of the double-storey site as somewhere to shelter, shower, wash clothes, eat and engage with each other, staff and volunteers.
For Dean, who did not wish to give his surname, it was a welcome respite from his car, in which he has been living for six months with his two cats.
“I was wishfully thinking it would just be a couple of weeks and I’ll get a caravan or something will come up,” he said.
“I guess in other periods of my life and other’s lives, there’s usually something to look forward to, whether it’s a new job or holiday.
“Whereas in this situation, it gets to night and you think I’ve got through another day, but just to wake up to the same thing. It’s almost like groundhog day.”
Dean, 44, had worked most of his life in hospitality, sales and more recently in the disability employment sector in South Australia. But the jobs dried up and by the time he moved back to Geelong in January looking for opportunities, he had hope, but nothing much else.
Well-educated at a Catholic private school, Dean said homelessness was indiscriminate, misunderstood and hard to escape.
He said “nine out of 10” people in Geelong were understanding. One woman gave him a thick blanket, a man brought him a pizza one night and chocolates at Easter.
“I don’t want to talk about other people’s stories, but some of them are tragic how it’s come about. I mean I’m lucky in the sense that it simply was lack of work,” he said.
He said it’s respect, not pity, that they’re looking for, and many have already found it at Lazarus.
He said there are others who have it worse, and he knows one man who sleeps on the concrete floor of a public toilet block.
“You have to be pretty resilient, because the obvious ones are the freezing cold nights, the boredom and the loneliness,” he said.
“You can get very down and depressed, so meeting people through places like this, people you can relate to, is great,” he said.
Things have picked up since he started visiting Lazarus house. He said having somewhere to go and people to talk to had given him a reinvigorated sense of purpose, and that he already has employment prospects.
Today’s launch has been a long time coming for volunteers, staff and SalvoConnect Barwon. It was meant to be operational last February, but a breakdown in negotiations with a support organisation was blamed for the delays.
Site manager Kez Crtalic said despite barriers being “high and large”, the numbers highlighted how necessary the service was, with as many as 22 people in one day and more than 100 in the first two weeks.
“So many of us get to go home to our families or friends, which is a main thing that people we work with lack. Even though there is an element of community among people that are homeless, that can still be very dangerous and scary at times,” she said.
“So to be able to come here and have a safe, homey environment.”