For people experiencing homelessness during winter, a safe and warm place to stay staffed by caring and friendly volunteers, can be lifesaving.

The Yarra Valley Winter Shelter, operated across the Yarra Ranges area by StableOne, is a massive yearly effort to provide this safe space for rough sleepers and people experiencing homelessness.

Our team recently dropped by to attend a Tuesday night dinner session, speaking to guests, some of whom are already Anchor clients, as well as chatting to volunteers.

The dinner sessions provide a cheerful and relaxed atmosphere for guests to eat dinner together and chat with volunteers and visitors.

The food is the highlight, with all manner of different dishes cooked, all by volunteers and helpers in the kitchen. On the night we visited its was chicken and vegetables, followed by sticky date pudding.

The dinners provide much needed normalcy and connection for the guests.

Anchor is proud to support the Yarra Valley Winter Shelter. Our homelessness team plays an important role in providing assessments for guests, helping them to access the shelter, and continue supporting them to find stable accommodation during the wintertime.

Winter in the Yarra Ranges

Winter is a serious time for Anchor as we support so many rough sleepers around the Yarra Ranges area. Not only are overnight temperatures getting close to 0 degrees across Melbourne, but we also saw our first snow fall in the area recently.

This is life-threatening for people sleeping rough, so ensuring they have warmth, food, clean clothes and consistent support to improve their situation is vital.

We are very lucky to have strong community partnerships in this area, such as with Stable One through the Yarra Valley Winter Shelter who do an incredible job providing a safe and warm place for rough sleepers to stay during this time of year.

Winter Shelter needs your help!

The Yarra Valley Winter Shelter is short on volunteers for overnight shifts. These volunteer roles are important for ensuring the safety of the guests.

Their Operations Coordinator can work with you to find times that work.

If you want to be a part of this life-saving shelter and can donate your time, please apply via this link (https://bttr.im/dqzk9) or get in touch with Sharon: sharon@stableone.org