I'd heard a handful of the organizations/services before, but never knew there were THIS many! The sorts of service agencies they had were for accommodation help, financial assistance services, health checkup places, mental health help, drug & alcohol support, employment & training programs, counselling services, legal assistance help, outreach vans (for food..), places for support for aged/disabled/Indigenous/women/youth, etc. How wonderful to have all these services in one place! One of the biggest easily avoidable problems is people don't know WHERE to look for help. Met a man, who struggled so much on the streets at first just because he never knew where to go. I'm sure there are many others too. But thats why HC exists!
Along with all the booths that were set up (& the free stuff they were giving out at the booths), they had heaps of other things going on! Hairdressers, beauticians, a professional photographer, GPs, massage therapists, dentists, physiotherapists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, Vinnies donated heaps of stuff that people could take for free, there were showers, laundry & dryer, free blankets & swags (learned a new aussie word! lol. at first i thought they were saying 'snags'...which are sausages, but swags are like rolled up bedding ppl use when roughing it on the streets. BIG difference haha), they also had a computer area for people who wanted to use the internet/computer or get help with computer skills/resumes/etc.
It was the little things of the day that really made it special though. For example, for lunch the guests sat down, and ppl waited on them.. its something that's not all that familiar a feeling, and something that was much appreciated by the guests. also taking ppl's rubbish and throwing it out for them, or asking if ppl wanted a top-up of their coffee/tea, and most of all, just walking up to ppl/sitting next to guests and asking how their day's been going :) I remember during volunteer orientation, we were told to go out of our way to make the guests feel special. The fact that the O-leader called them guests was Awesome! This day was their day, and we were to treat them like kings & queens, to really pamper & spoil them. The big thing that stuck was when he said, "Treat the guests the way you'd like to be treated!" and "Go the extra bit to make people feel comfortable & welcomed & loved!" I thought to myself, wow, what awesome biblical principles, to be all things to all men, to really love with action. And then thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if all Christians could be like this everyday? what if I could be like this everyday? Not that I'm in contact with a lotta homeless in my bubble of uni & church life tucked away in st. lucia.. but hoping that won't always be the case.
Anyways, all in all a wonderful day yesterday - met some lovely people & had some memorable conversations, listened to some awesome music, learned bout lotsa services out there to help the homeless, and just really enjoyed myself. Except i did lose my shirt... when arriving we had to change into volunteer shirts, so i left my shirt (& hairband) with the other shirts behind a table, at the end of the day it was gone. Hope they don't mind i took the volunteer shirt, had no choice hahah. i must say, i got the better end of the deal, this polo shirt totally outshines the other one i was wearing !
sidenote.... it'd be so awesome if many cities back home had HC events? although, i think vancouver, calgary & edmonton are already on the ball with this.. =) the idea is catching like wildfire!
