My name is Emma, and I’m 44 years old, and I have been volunteering with 300 Blankets since April 2025.
For 17 years of my life, I struggled with ice addiction and made some choices I’m not proud of, which led to losing care of four of my five children. Back in 2021, during one of the hardest times of my life, I fortunately heard about an organisation called 300 Blankets. I learnt that they supported people with blankets, clothing, toiletries, sanitary items, and at that time, food parcels. I called them and spoke to the lovely Susan, and soon after, two beautiful volunteers visited my home to provide blankets and a food parcel for me and my children. I was so grateful – I couldn’t thank them enough.
Not long after this, I found out about Soul Kitchen, a space where I could take my children on Sunday nights for a free three-course meal run by amazing volunteers at the Braybrook Community Hub. It quickly became a special place for us.
When Melbourne was hit by COVID-19 and the world went into lockdown, Soul Kitchen switched to approved home deliveries, leaving meals at our door to conform to social distancing requirements. During this time, my contact with my children became even more complicated, as DFFH was involved. I relapsed, started using again, and when I didn’t provide clean screens, I lost contact and signed the care of my children over to my sister.
Through this time, I managed to keep contact with one of my daughters, seeing her three times a week and on weekends whenever I could. I am extremely grateful for my daughter’s respite carer during this period, who made this possible – even enabling me to see my other children too.
In 2022, I went to detox for 7 days, followed by a 3-month rehab program at Westside Lodge in St Albans. But this time, I did it for myself – not for anyone else – and that made all the difference. I completed the program on 01/09/2022 and still stay connected to Westside Lodge through their SMART Recovery group every Friday.
I have now been clean for 3 years and 6 months, and I’m loving life. Having been a recipient of the care and support of the 300 Blankets community and its dedicated volunteers, I proudly started volunteering myself for the charity, starting initially as a volunteer as part of the Outreach program, and now a qualified Night Leader, leading other volunteers to make an impact on the lives of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness – giving back to the organisation that once helped me when I needed it most.
I’m currently studying a Certificate 4 in Alcohol and other Drugs and hope that this – coupled with the work I’m doing with 300 Blankets – will allow me in the future to work as a peer worker within the AOD sector.
Joining Outreach is such an easy way to contribute to those who need it most, and I’m so glad that I get to take others on these outings, and pass on this great joy. A typical shift includes about 4-5 volunteers. We all meet at the Pullman Hotel at 7pm and will walk a consistent route each Tuesday and Thursday, so that our community know where to find us.
Initially it was a bit daunting, but now it is just a natural thing to regularly chat with the community, who we know very well. It’s just about making the time to talk to people who might be sleeping rough, we see many of the regulars, and it can be confronting or sad, but it is really good to see these warm, friendly faces as often as we do – and how we can be part of making their night even better. It’s why we come out here.
