‘I felt welcomed, not judged’
This article was first published in The Melbourne Anglican on 7 May 2025.
On a Sunday morning in January 2018, an emaciated Val Fernandez entered St Peter’s Eastern Hill’s Lazarus Centre for the first time.
He had heard he could get a free breakfast. This moment began his recovery journey from heroin and methamphetamine addiction and undiagnosed HIV.
“I remember feeling I finally found somewhere I could attend,” he said. “I felt welcomed, not judged. I didn’t have to explain anything. I just had my breakfast.”
Mr Fernandez said stories like his were more common than people imagined.
“We don’t turn to drugs because we think they’re something good, but to escape…a lot of pain,” he said. “Mine was to deal with childhood abuse and neglect.”
Mr Fernandez now volunteers every week at St Mark’s Fitzroy, another centre funded by St Peter’s Eastern Hill Charitable Foundation and Anglicare Victoria.
He said he was often asked what it felt like to be homeless.
He described the feeling of insecurity of sleeping on a park bench.
“You’re always constantly at risk, always exhausted,” he said. “Imagine someone standing over you while you slept in your bedroom.”
The Lazarus Centre was a turning point for Mr Fernandez. He said one of the things that made the biggest difference was starting to hear his own name.
Anglicare support team leader Jack Brookes said the majority of people did not end up homeless because of substance or mental illness.
“Those things come as a direct result of the experience of homelessness,” he said.
“If you’re out on the street every night, cold and scared, what better balm than a substance like methamphetamine that’s going to keep you up all night?”
Mr Brookes said the Lazarus Centre provided a space for people to come and feel safe.
“Essentially it’s giving them a living room,” he said.
Centre volunteer Ellie Mitchell said they used soft lighting and music to build a calming effect.
They were also conscious of creating stability by keeping things in the same places.
“A lot of the people who come don’t have much order in their lives,” she said.
Long-term volunteer Andrew Carter said one of the biggest initiatives was the installation of extra power points in the centre so people could charge their phones.
Alongside the 280 eggs and 15kg of bacon cooked every day, he said the provision of electricity enabled connection to necessary services.
Anglicare chief executive Paul McDonald said more focus was needed on policies for the homeless, young people trying to get their first job, and families in high rentals.
“Anglicare sees that intergenerational poverty baton being passed on,” he said.
“What I’m talking about is the need for policies that derail that disadvantage, that give chance and opportunity.”
Image credit: Val Fernandez (centre) found connection through the Lazarus Centre. Pictured with Jack Brooks (left) and Paul McDonald (right). Picture: Lesa Scholl
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