Water and ice provide relief for Melbourne’s homeless during heat wave

In the sweltering heart of Melbourne last week, a few Christians threw air-con to the wind to help out the city’s homeless struggling with the merciless temperatures.

highlighterAs the barometer Melbourne’s city centre rose just shy of 43 degrees on Wednesday, the second day of a four-day heat wave, Chris Booth and others from Christian NGO Urban Seed spent several hours walking around the city, stopping for those who looked like they needed heat-relief, and offering them water, ice and sunscreen.

“We went in search of the places where we knew people were hanging out and sleeping rough. We were concerned about dehydration, and we found a lot of people who really appreciated the help. They were just waiting for something to help them cool down,” said Chris, Urban Seed’s faith engagement coordinator.

Under a railway bridge alongside the Yarra, Chris met up with people he’d seen several times before to offer the cool refreshments. Urban Seed workers are on the streets every second Sunday night, offering blankets, tea, coffee, hats and scarves to those living rough. But last week, ice and water were more appropriate. They were out again on Friday, when temperatures topped 43.9 degrees in the city.

Reports that homeless people were being ‘moved on’ from the air-conditioned respite of shopping centres and fast food outlets last week prompted The Salvation Army and the City of Melbourne to work together to open up Melbourne’s public pools to the homeless. Showers were provided and charities provided swimmers and towels.

Chris says the people living in Melbourne have had a wake up call to the plight of its homeless citizens after one man was stabbed and died in a Melbourne Park in early January. Chris had met the man several times on his rounds on a Sunday night.

“He was a guy who’d introduce us to lot of other people who needed help.”

“But there’s been a lot more awareness of the risks of people experiencing homelessness since then, I think.”

In the midst of a big problem for the city, small gestures like water bottles and ice can still make a world of difference.

Image source: Flickr, Johanna Hobbs. Used under CC License.