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History of Rebeccas CommunityRebeccas Community was founded in 2002 by two friends Dominic Mapstone and Gerry Denton. As a Social Worker, Dominic was coordinating a service for homeless people in Brisbane. Gerry, a computer programmer by day was volunteering with the service. We often debated at length how to improve the service and what further services were needed for homeless people. The focus of our debate often revolved around a group of homeless people who were first homeless at a very young age (6 to 12 years old) and had lived for some years on the street, often including some time in juvenile detention and prison. By the time members of this group reached 21, they were often in prison serving longer sentences or dead. |
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Dominic
and Mouse fishing off the cliffs for dinner. |
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were living on the streets heavily involved in drug abuse and very few of them
had any real prospects of moving off the streets. The most chronic of homeless,
their needs were so significant no one service was positioned to provide the ongoing
intensive support and understanding they needed. So in designing our services we started from that point: 'What would it take to assist the most chronically homeless to move off the streets?' For six months we researched existing support services: for homeless people; for people in the juvenile justice system; drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, and mental health support services. This research took us to Sydney for a number of weeks where we talked at length with homeless people and some of the local service providers. Towards the end of 2002 we decided to move to Sydney and establish a new service for homeless people as the city had the largest homeless population in the country (the greatest need). We moved to Kings Cross around March 2003. After only a few weeks of living in Sydney we decided to invite a few homeless people to share our apartment with us. This is where we really began making ground answering that question of 'what would it take to assist the most chronically homeless off the streets.' At the end of 2003 we stayed with friends in the Josephite Community Aid house at Lidcombe, for a few months break to recharge for the new-year. In 2004 we moved our operations to Lidcombe establishing 'Hospitality House,' where we continued to invite homeless people to live with us. In 2006 we moved Hospitality House a few suburbs north to a larger house with more rooms and living space. This also enabled us to expand the workshop where our metal work and wood work projects bang, chop and weld away. Today Rebeccas Community has clients in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland receiving ongoing support. We also fund an international forum for homeless people and a peer-education program, promoting safety during Schoolies Week. |
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