On Thursday night we meet at the tram stop on Swanston St for a 7pm start. It’s 6.50pm but everyone is here so we head off early for Outreach – our night leader Deb and the five of us volunteers.
The first person we meet is Michael. I know this is his name because he has a sign written with black sharpie on a piece of cardboard. I’m wheeling a suitcase filled with six black tracksuit sets tonight. The others are holding bags filled with toiletries, underwear, socks, beanies, scarves, shower and myki passes and another suitcase of blankets. Being the first person we encounter, Michael has the luxury of selecting his correct size as I hand over his new black tracksuit – a small dignity I am relieved to be able to offer. Emily offers to buy him a drink and he requests a bubble tea with a double serve of pearls and rainbow jelly. The specificity of his request brings a smile to my face. We leave Michael with his special request and move on along Swanston St.
The tracksuit sets are a hit tonight, with each person we meet taking us up on the offer. The blankets are also a hot commodity. Melbourne is in the throes of Winter now and the streets are harshly cold. I give the last tracksuit to a woman named Kay. She is wearing a hoodie already but explains that her clothes are all wet. I only have an XL tracksuit for this petite woman but she doesn’t seem fazed. She tells me she was last living on the streets 20 years ago but has been back for the past three months due to being kicked out of her home. She is on the waiting list for housing. She leaves the city when it is time to sleep because men have been crawling under her blanket with her. We have to move on so we can complete our route and hand out the rest of our supplies. We bid goodbye to Kay and tell her we’ll see her next week.
Deb knows most of the regulars by now and some of them recognise us. By the time we reach the end of Elizabeth St we are running low on supplies. I am out of tracksuits and there are only a few sizes of underwear left. An older gentleman jokes with us about needing an XL for his *ahem*… but ultimately settles on a medium. We arrive back at the tram stop with empty suitcases at 8pm.
