Elsie Lange
Back for its third year, the Sunbury Winter Shelter is seeking volunteers to make the cold months safer and more secure for the homeless in the town.
Five local churches will come together again to help rough sleepers, opening their doors overnight to offer dinner, dormitory-style sleeping and breakfast.
Sunbury Winter Shelter chairperson and St Andrews Uniting Church venue coordinator Di Moon said being a part of the program is a “real growing experience” for volunteers.
“It makes you appreciate your own situation, it makes you appreciate your own family, and opens your eyes that not everyone is going home to a warm bed every night,” Ms Moon said.
She said the shelter was seeking enough volunteers to cover seven nights of the week for the program’s duration, from June 1 to August 31, who can register online.
Ms Moon said she felt “privileged” to support the town’s most vulnerable through the program, that they might share their life with her and allow for others to assist them.
The shelter is funded by donations from local organisations, churches and businesses.
“The majority of people that we’ve helped, if they were standing here now, would say they wouldn’t know where they’d be without help from the Sunbury Winter Shelter,” Ms Moon said.
“We help them to get their life back on track.
“The majority of shelters support guests through the winter time, but we put them in contact with local organisation such as VincentCare to help them find permanent accommodation that suits their needs,” she said.
To volunteer, head to: sunburywintershelter.org.au/
