Wayside Stories

A Day in the Life of...

Its 8.45 and I always turn the corner into Hughes Street a little excited and a little wary of what the day ahead at Wayside might bring. Yesterday I copped quite an earful from a man I’ve been working pretty closely with, trying to secure him some housing. I’m wondering if he’s still going to be angry today. As soon as I turn the corner he approaches me and apologises profusely for his behaviour yesterday… we’re friends again! One less thing to worry about today.

At 9am I open the doors. There is already about 8 people waiting in the courtyard to come inside. First in the door is a young couple that have been living in a local park for the last 5 months. They’re a lovely couple but both are battling serious drug problems. They have just discovered they’re expecting their 4th child and so are determined to get clean. They’re first on the list to have showers today.

At 11am one of the most striking characters I’m ever likely to meet walks through the door. Most mornings there is a game of phone-tag between Wayside and a few different services trying to track down everybody’s favourite uncle so that one of the amazing outreach nurses can give him his medication. He is in good spirits this morning and tells me of his 20-year love affair with his wife. “I love that woman,” he mutters and never a truer word has been spoken I expect. Some of the most enduring relationships flourish in the most unexpected places.

At 1 o’clock I return to the desk after walking an older fellow to the shower, he must have thanked and blessed me 30 times in that short walk; I often feel blessed at the Wayside.

At 2 o’clock it is emergency clothing hour. I spend most of this hour running between our clothing room and the front desk trying to assess people’s sizes and taste in clothes. The amazing op-shop staff make sure we have quality clothes to give to people who need them. We all know the clothes don’t make the man but they can certainly make somebody’s day. Today a woman needed something ‘respectable’ to wear while she visited her daughter in hospital. Her daughter is so ill from chemotherapy she probably wouldn’t notice what her mother is wearing, but at least this woman can hold her head a little higher as she walks in.

At around 4 o’clock one of our regular visitors arrives and is clearly very upset. She is shaking, crying and practically hyperventilating. When I sit down to ask her what’s going on she gives me the most heartbreakingly simple answer… she just can’t handle her life anymore. I sat with her for close to an hour struggling to find any answers to her big questions. At this point one of our other regular visitors came and stood with us and gave the woman a pink rose. I wasn’t sure how this gift was going to be received but from underneath all her tears the woman looked at me in shock and smiled. She was honestly shocked that someone had gone out their way to cheer her up and this simple gesture did more than my hour of counselling could ever have done.

At 5 o’clock my day is done and I walk through Kings Cross on my way home; a little more weary than wary now the day is done. It’s always an eventful day at the Wayside.

Ellouise

Community Services Worker