Some of the Wagga Community Kitchen volunteers feeding the hungry. From left, Bek, Lexie, Khudeehaji, and Julie Masters. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
Every Thursday night at Wagga Baptist Church, volunteers prepare a hot meal for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
This week, however, the gathering was about more than food.
After dinner was served, community members stayed behind for the third Homelessness and Housing Forum, a grassroots effort sparked by the tragic death of a twin baby born in a tent in Wagga last month.
Among those attending was Wagga Women’s Health Centre president and local resident Vickie Burkinshaw, who said the tragedy had forced many people to confront uncomfortable questions.
“What has happened in our society that a woman thought that [giving birth in a tent] was the only decision she could make?” Vickie said.
“Personally, I felt so affronted that, on my watch, in my community, in one of the most extraordinarily, wealthiest communities in the world, this can happen.”
Vickie Burkinshaw has been leading calls for action. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
The forum has brought together people from all walks of life, including churches, community groups, residents and people who have experienced homelessness themselves.
“The breadth of people that are part of the forum is from all walks of life. All demographics. All backgrounds. Lots of churches are involved. People who’ve experienced homelessness and have been able to come out the other end, and other people who are just feeling really compassionate about wanting to come up with a solution,” Vickie said.
The first two meetings focused on brainstorming ideas. This week’s forum examined solutions that have worked elsewhere in Australia and overseas.
Before the meeting began, many attendees shared a meal alongside people sleeping rough or struggling to make ends meet.
“We wanted to share a meal with the people who are sleeping rough, or who are finding it really, really hard to make ends meet,” Vickie said.
The meal was provided by Wagga Baptist Church’s Community Kitchen, which feeds between 40 and 50 people most Thursday nights.
“Our dinner comes from [one of Australia’s largest food relief organisations] SecondBite, as well as donations from the community,” Community Kitchen coordinator Julie Masters said.
“There could be anywhere from 40 and sometimes 50 people that we feed on a Thursday night. Some come from Kooringal, some are living on the [Murrumbidgee] riverbank, or Wilks Park, and we have people from [budget accommodation] The Lodge. They’re from all over.”
Some of Wagga’s homeless and disadvantaged men, women and children line up for a much-needed meal at Wagga’s Community Kitchen at Wagga’s Baptist Church in Tarcutta Street. Photo: Supplied.
Julie said the kitchen was about more than providing food.
“We have volunteers who prepare the meals, and we also have some that turn up afterwards, just to meet and sit with the people and talk, so it’s a time where we build trust and relationships.”
Religion provides the backdrop to the Community Kitchen, but Julie said the focus is on helping people.
“If we get to share the Gospel, that’s awesome, but generally it’s to provide a meal, and give that trust so that they know that they can come to us,” she said.
For Ms Burkinshaw, tackling homelessness starts with changing attitudes.
“People can be one decision, one piece of bad luck, away from being in the same situation, but we still hear the same reaction like, ‘They’re all on drugs, or, ‘They want to be there’. We have got to put people first and there are so many complex reasons why people end up homeless or abandoned, or without enough money to afford a meal,” she said.
“It’s not for us to judge. It’s about saying, for humanity, for kindness, what can we do to make people feel that they belong in our community? That they feel safe enough to access our services?”
She also highlighted the challenge posed by long social housing waiting lists.
“Some people have been living down by the beach for three years. What would compel you to move into that temporary situation? We know the wait list for the most urgent need is five years. If you are not ‘urgent’, it’s eight years. What does that do to your mental health? We don’t want that for people in our community,” Vickie said.
Despite the scale of the problem, she remains optimistic that local solutions can be found.
“We have to think creatively, and from a perspective of love, kindness, empathy and compassion, because it can be done,” she said.
“We know Transgrid can build a city in a week. So can we. We have empty blocks of land. We have empty buildings. We have people who have empty caravans at home.
“It’s not too hard at all if we put kindness, compassion, empathy and love at the centre of everything we do. It’s not hard.”
