Lazarus Centre Newsletter: St Peter’s Day 2020
Home Sweet Home?
Passing this now closed tram stop in Gisborne Street I was reminded that one of our Breakfast Program participants used to sleep there. When I first heard he was living at a tram stop I didn’t know exactly which one it was so I envisaged one of those modern partially enclosed ones rather than this classic much more welcoming, almost cosy little building.
The word was that he kept his residence spotless, sweeping it each morning and carefully rolling up his bedding and secreting it away. It was not the best housing solution but never-the-less one that worked for him at the time. Subsequently the stop was superseded by a modern one further down Gisborne Street and, as the photo shows, it was closed off. I do not know where the one-time resident now lives.
Another of our participants tells a positive story amid these uncertain times. He is part of a program to house people in city hotels whose patronage has dropped off significantly because of COVID-19.
He is finding the experience transformative. He has been able to take a breather from the rigours of homelessness to regain his equilibrium and to care for his health – to say nothing of staying warm and dry. His story may also point to the efficacy of the “housing first” approach whereby people are placed in decent housing and surrounded with the assistance they need to recover their lives. I have included some information on the Respite and Recovery Facilities Program (RRF) over the page.
Fr Philip Gill
Assistance for the Homeless in times of COVID-19
Reproduced from: Respite and Recovery Facilities Integrated health and homelessness support
Fact sheet Last updated: 12 June 2020
Background
The Department of Health and Human Services (the department), together with St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (SVHM), Launch Housing, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Sacred Heart Mission, Anglicare Victoria and VincentCare Victoria, has developed the Respite and Recovery Facilities (RRF) program to provide a coordinated health and homelessness response to people experiencing homelessness. Four RRFs sites have been established across inner Melbourne.
The facilities will provide temporary accommodation for approximately 60 people experiencing homelessness who require supported short-term accommodation in order to access appropriate healthcare. St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne will lead nursing care in all facilities. The RRFs program is specifically targeted to people currently residing in temporary hotel accommodation in Melbourne’s CBD.
Eligibility
The RRFs will assist people who are experiencing homelessness and:
• Have a physical or mental health issue that inhibits their recovery in unsupported accommodation AND this health issue is anticipated to be able to be addressed during their stay; and
• Are seeking support for these health issues and agree to engage in their own care during their stay.
Clients will not be eligible for the program if they require acute nursing or medical care (including management of clinically significant Alcohol and Other Drug withdrawal or frequent monitoring of vital signs and other observations). These clients will be referred to appropriate health facilities for assessment and treatment.
Service delivery
The RRFs program provides an integrated short-medium term health and homelessness response.
Homelessness service staff will provide 24-hour support to people in the facilities alongside St Vincent’s Hospital nursing staff. Clients requiring an increased level of care will be referred to mainstream health services as appropriate, including to the nearest hospital emergency department. It is anticipated that most clients will stay in the facilities for between six and twelve weeks, depending on their housing and health needs.
Intake and referral
Referrals to the RRFs will initially come from agencies that are represented in the CBD Motel Taskforce. To refer clients to the facilities, staff are required to send an Initial Assessment and Planning (IAP) form to the Nursing Team Leader at SVHM. The Nursing Team leader will consult with homelessness staff at the RRFs to identify an appropriate placement at one of the facilities, according to the clients’ needs and demographic profiles.
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
A Poem about courage: (excerpts)
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.
Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/still-i- rise-by-maya-angelou