Missionbeat driver Kane Lunn attended to the call. "I attended the location and on-arrival spoke to the caller and another neighbour who both expressed concern about the client’s presence and welfare.
"The police had attended several times. They had moved the client on but on each occasion he had returned to the same location. The neighbour was going to call the police again if Missionbeat were unable to assist," said Kane.
When Kane first approached the client, he was sleeping on an old, dirty mattress and only had a thin blanket to keep warm. As the police continually 'moved him on' he had been braving the rain for some time and was suffering from a bad bout of the 'flu.
After a little conversation Kane found he was twenty-one years old and had been on the streets since he was fourteen. He had recently served a prison term and was only released three weeks before.
Upon release he was unaware of the support services he could go to for help, and was hesitant of homeless accommodation services after a previous bad experience with fellow residents.
"He was very reluctant to speak to me at first and was quite firm in not wanting to go anywhere. Fortunately, I was able to spend some time chatting with him (and offer him an orange juice). Slowly he opened up and became more trusting. Eventually, he agreed for us to provide transport to a drop-in centre in inner Sydney"
Kane escorted the young man to the drop-in centre (temporary crisis accommodation), briefing the staff on his situation and imploring them to do their best to find him a long-term placement. Kane was thrilled when Missionbeat received the call a few hours later from the centre that the young man would require transport to longer-term accommodation.
Even though only a few hours had passed, Kane noticed a marked difference in the young man when he arrived at the drop-in centre to pick him up.
"I met a happier young man, who had been fed and was looking forward to a warm night's sleep."
Missionbeat has recently celebrated their 30-year anniversary. To mark the occasion a fundraiser is currently underway - to support this service into the future more information is available at the Missionbeat fundraising page.
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