Bits and pieces of night life.
The Church Shelters keep a register/diary each night to aid communication between volunteers within Cana Communities. What follows are some extracts taken from the Christ Church St Laurence Shelter register.
23/2/2002: R… said, “There is a strength here. There are always people from Christ Church who want to be here and talk”.
7/5/2002: “Good talks with S… and B…. The ministry of just listening is important.”
6/2/2004: Written by a guest: “Thank you for your help. I really appreciated it. You people deserve a gold medal. Again thank you very much. Tea was very nice, thanks to the chef. Very good job. All the best for this New Year everyone and thank you to the person who owns the building for letting us stay overnight. See ya later.”
8/10/2005: S… arrived late – he is always in a wheelchair. Mission Beat would not pick him up in the morning and said they do not carry people in wheelchairs. So it was the same problem; he also wet his bed.” [Homeless Persons were advised again not to send people in wheel chairs to CCSL as there is no easy access into the hall and no access at all to the toilets.]
27/5/2006: Report on possible chocolate biscuit theft. Multiple parties implicated. 8:01 pm – guests arrive; 8:04 pm – biscuits deployed to southern most table of Mary’s Room; 8:07 pm – biscuits gone. Baffling. The local constabulary have offered little help on the matter. One slow-witted detective offered the extremely helpful point that the Virgin Mother herself may have stolen and consumed aforementioned biscuits, a comment that allowed me the chance, with as much patience as I could muster, to remind the man in blue that said Virgin Mother was a painting and therefore incapable of performing the stated act of kleptomania and digestion. Apart from this (brief) altercation with the local fuzz, it was a quiet night, enjoyed by all (as were the biscuits…..!)
19/8/2006:
“Twas quite a quiet night.
Well as quiet a night as
“Quite a quiet night” can be.
It “kicked off” with a fight’
Well not quite a fight, more
Brothers not being brother-ly,
After huffing and puffing
The “fight” lost its stuffing,
when the twins were offered sausage and tea.
After they called it quits.
We all thanked the Brits for
Making ‘quite a night’ end quietly.”
16/9/2006: “A quiet, uneventful night…..absolutely nothing happened!”
13/1/2007: Cana Shelter Accommodation Review by Stuart (volunteer). The in-house dining experience was the clever opening gambit from this trendy Sydney accommodation. Modern Australian dining in a friendly atmosphere worked very well. Accommodation was simple but elegant. The clientele were friendly and (for the most part) refined. Whilst others have mentioned the noise outside as a problem, I think it adds local colour. Overall 3 stars. I think I will be back next month.”
19/5/2007: An extra person, J…, said at the door that he had been booked to stay here. He was not on the list. On checking with Homeless People we discovered that he had been booked into Rawson House. He reluctantly agreed to go there after eating some dinner (two sausage sandwiches) with the help and transport of Mission Beat.”
13/10/2007: “A good, quiet night. We happily welcome Paul (volunteer) to the ranks. He was a very good addition to our team, bringing much needed experience, level-headedness, wisdom, fortitude, maturity, responsibility, wit and decisiveness; pretty much all of the things that me [Jono] and Tim lack. Oh, and Paul also added nuclear weapons & ICBM experience to our ever growing list of talents…”
27/10/07: Fairly quiet night. R… was drunk and mildly obnoxious.”
26/1/2008: R… was his usual uncooperative self, announcing grievances loudly, to the discomfort of more than one of our other guests.
27/9/2008: J… arrived and was advised that Homeless Persons would arrange alternative accommodation [due to ban from all Cana shelters – dangerous.] Notwithstanding, J… managed to get into the hall and he refused to leave. The police were called at 8 pm and he was removed at 8:50 pm [followed by a quiet night].
28/2/2009: [Lengthy report of two men being caught shooting up with heroin in male toilets. Men to be banned for some time. One was very upset and apologetic as he recognised, as a regular, that he had abused our trust.]
30/5/2010: “R… turned up, but felt he would be better at the hospital (Psych. Ward). Peter (volunteer) arranged for him to go.”
19/6/2010: “P… had some items stolen from his bag overnight (some DVDs and three shirts). P… was adamant that it was T…, and mentioned he was going to tell the police. T… was one of three guests NOT present in the morning when the theft was discovered.”
18/12/2010: “C… was extremely drunk so Paul (volunteer) phoned Mission Beat who called and took him to Foster House [Intoxicated Persons Unit].”
6/8/2011: T… arrived late – stayed and proceeded to wet the bed. Brendan (volunteer) will check whether the Homeless Centre can direct him to better help. Z…’s blood sugar level was seriously high/low – he didn’t have an insulin supply. We called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital. Otherwise it was a peaceful night.
3/9/2011: T… booked in with us this evening. Homeless Persons was asked again to find a more suitable place in the future. Z… now carries insulin, so Homeless Persons advised that he was carrying syringes.
3/12/2011: “…. In other news, Geoff (volunteer) was thoroughly defeated in our scrabble re-match….”
30/6/12: R… became very angry and rowdy when he discovered J… had eaten his snack bar! J… was remorseful and unable to pay R.., but Roger (volunteer) found $2.50 to settle the matter and R… calmed down. A…’s shoes very smelly and upset guys in the sleeping area. He was apologetic and his shoes were left in the walkway.