As bitter winter temperatures set in, a collection on churches in north-east Victoria have opened their doors to the homeless as part of the Wangaratta night shelter project. The denominations are working together to house those sleeping rough.
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00:00The streets of Wangaratta are a cold place to be sleeping overnight, with temperatures
00:07regularly dropping below zero in winter.
00:10It's a reality which is all too familiar for Eve Davis, who spent four years outside of
00:14a permanent home as a single mum.
00:17She remembers the moment she was able to find a home with her children.
00:20I couldn't comprehend it.
00:21I thought, no, this is, this must be the wrong house.
00:26Like, yeah, it was just a blessing.
00:30The Wangaratta Night Shelter is an initiative which sees six different churches of varying
00:35denominations open up their doors to people experiencing homelessness.
00:39Knowing that you've got a safe place, and that's what I hear from a lot of the people
00:43that come here, you know, they feel safe.
00:47It all started six years ago when local pastor Di Dersmer saw a need to get those sleeping
00:53rough into the warm.
00:55We knew people that were sick on the streets, that were in terrible situations, and we just
00:59had to do something to bring a change to that.
01:01As temperatures plummet, she says empty churches were an untapped resource.
01:06And so if what we have is empty buildings and we have meals that we can make together
01:11and we have community, then let's use that.
01:14Each night of the week, a different church or community centre opens its doors, including
01:19a Methodist church, community church and a uniting church.
01:23While in the past this kind of collaboration might have been unheard of, volunteers are
01:27proud their local parishes are working together.
01:29I think it's great.
01:31Church buildings aren't used at night time.
01:33They're warm.
01:34Generally they've got kitchens, toilets, all that sort of stuff, that's all you need.
01:38We would love to see other communities look at what we're doing and say we can do this
01:42in our community.
01:43One, this could be you who is homeless, but also this could be you as a community that
01:48responds to homelessness in your area.
01:51A novel idea which could help the vulnerable around the country.
01:55Jason Kitsaris, ABC News, Wangaratta.