Ringwood Salvos a winter haven for men experiencing homelessness
- deansimpson7
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
BY LERISSE SMITH
This Victorian winter, Ringwood Salvation Army welcomed more men than ever through its doors as part of the Maroondah Winter Shelter – men with jobs, men with families – all seeking refuge from the bitter cold and with nowhere else to go.
They sought shelter, food and companionship during the past three months as part of Melbourne’s Maroondah Winter Shelter initiative that has run since 2018, involving seven local churches, Maroondah City Council and other services.
Its mission? To have a united church and community response to local homelessness, and to provide shelter, food and honour for people who need shelter, comfort and support.
“Some of the guys have been on the community housing list for 15 years,” reflected Lisa Wynne, Community Engagement Worker at Ringwood Corps, who has been part of the program since its beginning.
“It just blows my mind. I don’t understand. I think there is a lost demographic, a lost type of person in the system. It’s a broken system, but we do what we can. It has been a real privilege of mine to be involved. From a faith point of view, I just believe God opened my eyes up to a whole other part of serving suffering humanity and people who are in great need that I had not been exposed to before.
“We are The Salvation Army, and Jesus spent his time with people who were in great need, giving hope to people, seeing their value, their strengths and treating them as equals. I hope I’ve been able to share the love of Jesus with them. But they teach you more, just by listening to them and being with them. They are just so real.”
The top priority for the Winter Shelter volunteers at Ringwood and the other churches was clear: to give dignity, fellowship and friendship to men needing practical and emotional support as they navigated life without shelter.
Each church provided shelter one night per week throughout winter at their building, with Ringwood Salvos opening their doors each Wednesday night to accommodate people, providing 12 stretcher beds that were nearly always full to capacity each week.
The male guests, aged 18 and over, were referred to the program through Uniting Ringwood and picked up near Blackburn Ringwood Lake or arrived on foot from Ringwood Station.
A warm welcome always awaited all guests.
A three-course dinner was on the menu, plus spending a night in a safe, warm shelter before being served a cooked breakfast the next morning. More than 30 volunteers assisted during the season, both from the corps and community, with 300 volunteers in total for the Program. The intake process, managed by Uniting, ensured a safe and supportive environment for everyone involved.
“We all sat down at the table with knives and forks and had that community experience,” Lisa said.
“Many of them wanted to get up and have a cigarette and stuff like that. So, they are very hard to sort of stay seated for the whole time. They will get up and go and sit on their bed or whatever, and come back, and that sort of thing for the three-course meal.
“Some of them stay up a bit, but a lot of them end up going to bed quite early and are really tired. Sometimes, they were up during the night. My husband was there on a Wednesday night. He spent a couple of hours talking to one of the guys about the Essendon Football Club.”
Some guests had heartbreaking backstories.
Men often found themselves without a home after a relationship breakdown – usually being the one to leave – or following the death of a parent or relative they had been living with due to the sale of the home.
“I think it was really hard for men who have young children,” Lisa remarked. “If they are estranged from their partner but have visit rights for their child and are homeless, then that makes it very difficult.”
Even employment wasn’t enough to guarantee stability.
Despite having jobs, some found the overhead of trying to get bond money too much. A lot of places ask for a couple of months’ rent in advance, which can leave them stuck. And rooming houses were not always considered a safe option by the men.
Many sleeves were rolled up at Ringwood thanks to a team of more than 30 volunteers.
The evening team included seven volunteers: three kitchen staff, a venue coordinator, and three additional support workers. Three more stayed overnight, and three for the breakfast shift. Each Wednesday night, the men had access to hot showers through the shelter trailer, along with toiletries, clothing, books and games.
As the Community Engagement Officer, the program was deeply personal and eye-opening for Lisa.
“It was a real eye-opener for me. Some of these men have been on the streets since they were 14,” Lisa emphasised.
“I have been a member of The Salvation Army all my life. I probably had nothing to do with homeless people until I was involved in this program. It really just opened my eyes, or should I say Jesus opened my eyes; they are precious to him and are just like me.
“I lived a very sheltered life in a generational Salvation Army family, and most of these guys didn’t have upbringings like I had, didn’t have a loving family. They had family who experienced a lot of suffering that I’ve never experienced. And so, we could show them love, support, and develop trust with them, build them up, try and see their strengths, and call them out and help them to realise their potential.”
Offering encouragement, support – and hope – was central too. Lisa often asked guests where they wanted to be in five or 10 years’ time. Many didn’t know – at least not at first.
“I try to encourage them … because that is how I’ve looked at life,” she said. “When you make a choice, ask yourself: is this going to help me get to where I want to be? Because I think in life, we all need something to aim at or where we want to be. What do we want life to look like? What is our dream? And to get them to dream about what they would like, something to make good choices for.”
This winter was the first time the Ringwood team and the other churches had their own stretcher-style beds made possible through grant money, 13 in total, along with grant-funded doonas and an industrial washing machine and dryer to clean the linen, housed at another church.
“I’ve met amazing people from the community that really have a heart for others,” she added. “I’ve never worked with so many other churches and been on a committee with so many other pastors or members working for a common cause.”
While the impact of the program is significant, it has also raised tough questions about what comes next.
“This year I felt really unsettled about the fact that when I say goodbye to the guys, what do they have after this?” Lisa explained.
“Only a couple of them have somewhere to go. One guy told me he’d be sleeping in the bushes at Ringwood Lake with a swag. I really believe that there’s something more we can do.”
As a result, Ringwood Salvos is now exploring ways to support the men beyond winter.
Despite the scale of the challenge, the Ringwood team remained committed long-term, including Corps Officer Major Bram Cassidy, while the Salvos Employment Plus and Gateways program has assisted some men.
And the greatest impact of the Winter Shelter?
“I think being a part of the community. I think they (the guests) feel safe,” she reflected.
“They feel they belong. They are not judged. There’s no judging … also, being part of the community and developing trust with people. Some of the guys I have seen for a couple of years now – and it has been one of the most amazing ministries I’ve been involved with in all my time in church leadership. It is amazing.”
