HOMELESS CHARITY IN NEED OF A NEW HOME
KATHLEEN Vlasic has been filling her fridge with donated pre-made food and driving around the Gold Coast handing it out to those in desperate need.
It is because the Rosies drop-in centre has effectively been homeless for the past three weeks. The council-owned carpark in Southport it works out of was deemed “unsafe” due to water in the ceiling.
Mrs Vlasic said she and 200 other volunteers had been unable to operate at Rosies.
Council workers turned up to the building near the Southport Courthouse yesterday afternoon after inquiries by the Bulletin.
The closure isn’t stopping Mrs Vlasic.
She’s picking up food donated from local businesses, storing it in her fridge, heating it in the afternoons and then spending hours on the road handing it out.
“The reason why we had to leave was because we had to close it down in several locations because water would get in through the rooftop and we would get flooded,” Mrs Vlasic, 73, said.
“If we had heavy rain overnight, the place would be completely flooded.
“I couldn’t operate my staff or have patrons come in there.
“Council declared it unsafe, which is right, it is unsafe. They did the right thing.
“I’m operating from my place at the moment.
“I heat the food in my place and put it into a hot box and go out to hand it out to our friends on the street.
“In the afternoons from 4.30pm I go down to Cascade Gardens and give them food.
“I then go to Cavill Mall in Surfers Paradise, and then I go to the streets of Southport and hand out sandwiches and different meals to them.
“My heart goes out to them (homeless).
“People are unfortunately too quick to judge (those less fortunate).
“Until you walk in their shoes and how they got to be where they are, you cannot judge.
“By the time those people have hit the streets, they are broken to start with. The longer they are out on those streets, the more mentally unwell they will become.”