How FareShare meals help people from homelessness to housing at The Salvation Army homelessness centres and beyond

FareShare meals now support residents at The Salvation Army homelessness accommodation centres in Flagstaff and North Melbourne, as well as former residents settling into more long-term housing.

This partnership was only established in May this year, but already the positive impacts are being noted.

Like most of FareShare’s charity partners, The Salvation Army Homelessness team has noticed an increase in recent times. Their temporary accommodation centres are full.

Many of their residents have had to struggle for food for a long time. As they embark on the journey from homelessness to housing, not having to think about where the next meal is coming from can be a real blessing. That’s where nutritious, homestyle FareShare meals come in. 

Helping people who have experienced homelessness at TSA accommodation centres

At The Salvation Army’s Flagstaff and North Melbourne homelessness residential centres, FareShare meals are there to support residents who may have missed out on the regular lunch or dinner service.

When someone experiencing homelessness initially arrives at one of these centres, FareShare meals can provide warmth and comfort in this unfamiliar new environment.

FareShare meals can also provide stability and regular nutrition to the residents who go through cycles before they find their feet, returning after, say, a couple months. 

Regional Operations Coordinator Raki Wanigatunga and Facilities Team Leader Molly Nuttall at The Salvation Army’s Homelessness centre in Flagstaff.

But most pertinently, providing the certainty of a nutritious, tasty FareShare meal anytime allows residents to focus on other essentials like housing and employment, cooking and therapy.

Within The Salvation Army’s dignified facilities – the Flagstaff site is a former school and has a beautiful leafy courtyard, where they host regular barbecues; the rooms are clean and comfy, the communal areas too – is a skills kitchen that teaches residents how to cook, a computer room where support workers help with CVs and computer skills, recreation areas, and more.

With the aid of FareShare meals, residents can concentrate on these wonderful services and give themselves the best chance of reintegrating into the community. 

The TSA Flagstaff courtyard, where residents socialise and relax.

Once residents have found more permanent accommodation

Naturally, the overarching goal of these temporary accommodation centres is to help residents find more permanent housing. Support workers provide ongoing support every step of the way, giving residents the confidence they need to get back into the community; a case management team helps with housing.

When people do find a more permanent home, The Salvation Army case workers love taking FareShare meals on their site visits to assist their clients as they settle in. Some clients do not know how to cook; others do not have the financial means.

And it’s not just former residents of these two residential accommodation centres either. The Salvation Army case workers provide assistance to a diverse range of people across Melbourne from various services, and have leapt at the opportunity to take some FareShare meals, either to welcome residents as they move into more sustainable, long-term housing, or on regular visits to check in on their wellbeing.

“Having FareShare providing these meals has opened up a lot of opportunities to support other programs to help clients, like our outreach teams. It makes a real difference,” says Raki Wanigatunga, the Regional Operations Coordinator at The Salvation Army’s Homelessness Services, Melbourne Metro.

During this crucial step, having FareShare meals in the freezer can take the worry out of where someone’s next meal is coming from. Again, this allows people to focus on life’s other concerns, and hopefully goes a small way to helping people reintegrate and flourish in our communities.

Thanks to this partnership with the Salvation Army homelessness centres, FareShare is thrilled to be able to provide lovingly prepared, homestyle meals to people as they make the often-difficult transition out of homelessness. 

    Please consider supporting FareShare

    Read more of our news stories

    Skip to content