Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference
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When we arrived at work this morning there were two young people asleep on the steps out the front of Frontyard. This morning was freezing and they were using their bags and clothes as bedding, so they must have had a pretty uncomfortable night.
The young people explained that they had been sleeping rough and had arrived at Frontyard in the early hours of the morning. One of them explained he slept with all his possessions as he had already been robbed twice sleeping in a park.
We brought the young people into the waiting area where it was warm and they made toast. One of our youth workers sat in the waiting area with them and explained how Frontyard worked and the different services they could use.
While they were waiting, we offered the young people a warm shower. Both jumped at the chance, saying it would "awesome": they had not been able to change their dress or clean up for well over a week. So we organised some towels and clean clothes. Both had long hot showers- not great for the water storages but I didn't really have the heart to stop them. Both seemed a lot more alive afterwards: sometimes it's the little things that make a big difference.
While at Frontyard this morning the pair both also went and sorted out their Centrelink stuff and visited our health services. Later on in the day we were able to place both in emergency accommodation, which was a great result.
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