From Hot Meals to Healing Hearts: The Transformative Power of the Blue Door Community

Volunteer Fleur and Coordinator Paul Potter join Archbishop Prowse in Blue Door’s kitchen. (December 22, 2022)

Each day at the Blue Door drop-in service, up to 100 people visit to collect fresh vegetables, snacks, toiletries, clothes, milk, and non-perishables or sit down with a bowl of hot soup from the kitchen.

“But perhaps, what’s most valued is our listening ear,” St Vincent de Paul Food Engagement Services Coordinator Paul Potter said.

“Many people, when they first come, are at their lowest ebb and feeling most desperate about their situation. Blue Door is a place to find encouragement in growing life skills and be referred to the best place for specialised support, including for addictions, mental health, and improved housing options.”

Paul has coordinated the Blue Door drop-in centre, located within Ainslie Village, for almost 14 years. The service supports people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

“We are mostly known for our meals – a hot lunch served at 12pm and also being a place to socialise and have a coffee or tea from 7.30am to 1.30pm,” he said.

“Our aim is tasty, nutritious food that has the potential to connect with happy previous memories. Food feeds our bodies but also nurtures our hearts. And it becomes the ‘handshake’ that can lead to a deeper engagement with someone. When we provide a welcome meal with love, grace and dignity, people know that even when life is tough and things have gone bad for them, there is still someone who cares.”

Paul and the other employees and volunteers work hard to ensure Blue Door is a safe and welcoming space for those who visit.

“What I enjoy most is the opportunity to meet and connect with people, help in solving problems and through this relationship see people stabilise and grow in their capacities and fulfilment in life,” Paul said.

“Being at Blue Door for over a decade, I find people will contact me many years later just to say thanks, to tell me how they have in some measure rebuilt their lives and tell me how much even some of the little things we’ve said or done have impacted them.”

In recent months, Paul has also taken on responsibility for the Roadhouse service, located in the city.

“Roadhouse, previously run by Red Cross, does an evening meal at 4.30pm six days a week, with up to 80 people coming each time,” he explained.

“Like Blue Door, it offers practical supports as well as the extras – a safe and welcoming space, social opportunity and referrals, life skills and advocacy. I think services like Blue Door and Roadhouse say something important about our community, something about how each person is valued and their welfare is not forgotten. Often, it’s when people are at their most vulnerable and desperate, services such as ours become the rescue point.”

Paul said while some homeless people are highly visible, the majority are not – living in cars, camping in secluded spots, couch surfing or living in overcrowded, dangerous or patently unsuitable accommodation.

“Like many other services, Blue Door and Roadhouse have struggled to get adequate funding from Government subsidies and other grants and support,” he said.

“But the greatest need is for adequate, affordable housing. The shortage of suitable public and social housing consumes resources as frustrated agencies try to find suitable housing for their clients. Homelessness is associated with great challenges to a person’s sense of identity, meaning, purpose, hope and nurturing connections, all of which are spiritual dimensions of human existence. Recognising this and addressing those issues as they are raised is an important part of supporting people in their vulnerability.”

The St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn 2024 ACT Election Statement, released recently, reflects this social and economic hardship.

“The ongoing cost of living crisis and lack of affordable housing affects every household in the ACT,” CEO Lucy Hohnen said.

“It also impacts every community sector organisation, as we are all experiencing significant increase in demand for our services.”

This Election Statement sets out five priority areas and requests all parties to commit to delivering more affordable housing, investing in homelessness support services, making Canberra more welcoming to migrants and refugees, ensuring energy is affordable to all, and provide better justice outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.