A welcoming place for people doing it tough
St Mary’s House of Welcome is providing a comforting place for people facing hardship to enjoy a hearty breakfast and lunch made with rescued food.
The service in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy uses food rescued through SecondBite to help cook hearty breakfasts and lunches for people doing it tough.
St Mary’s food service is set up like a welcoming dining room, with service users able to pop in for a hot breakfast and lunch Monday to Friday and brunch on Saturdays.
Turning rescued food into delicious dishes
The kitchen team at St Mary’s House of Welcome (SMHOW) use food rescued through SecondBite and other organisations, and donated by producers such as Josh’s Rainbow Eggs, to come up with tasty and nutritious meals.
When SecondBite visited SMHOW, breakfast included porridge, eggs, bacon and veggie fritters and lunch was a fragrant pork stir-fry with noodles.
Kitchen Coordinator and Chef Ryan Stewart works with a group of dedicated staff and volunteers to run the dining room, which can feed up to 35 people a sitting – with up to two sittings each day for breakfast and lunch.
“Last year we made more than 50,000 meals and this year we’re on track to make 60,000 meals for people doing it tough,“
Ryan Stewart, St Mary’s House of Welcome Kitchen Coordinator
(Right) St Mary’s House of Welcome CEO John Fogarty with Tamsyn & Josh Murray from Josh’s Rainbow Eggs and SecondBite Head of Operations Mathew Reiffel.
Providing support for people sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness
St Mary’s House of Welcome has been providing support to people doing it tough since 1960 and was started by the Daughters of Charity, an international congregation of Catholic nuns.
Along with their café-style food program, SMHOW also offers showers and laundry facilities, computer access & phone charging to people experiencing homelessness.
Their team also provide housing support, health services, social inclusion and wellness programs such as cooking classes and a garden club.
Service user Jim said as he was experiencing homelessness and sleeping rough, St Mary’s House of Welcome was a great help in providing him nutritious food and housing support.
“The number one thing I do every day is to come in for a breakfast at St Mary’s House of Welcome and it sets you up for the day,”
Jim, SMHOW service user
Jacqui is a regular visitor to the SMHOW dining room and said it was one of the few food relief services that could cater to her dietary requirements and health concerns.
“I’m a coeliac and find it hard to get gluten-free food, and I can’t go to other food programs because I can get quite sick from gluten. If it wasn’t for here (SMHOW) I would pretty much starve.”
Jacqui, SMHOW service user
Jacqui said she and her partner Jason have experienced homelessness for two years, as they can’t afford the price of accommodation in Melbourne.
“We do a Vline bus trip to Donald at night and sleep on the bus as it’s only $22 compared to $100 for a backpackers,” Jacqui said.
Donate today to SecondBite and help us provide more food to wonderful services like St Mary’s House of Welcome.