6 May 2007
COMPASS: A NEW MISSION
Summary
Four homeless men sign up for a chance to change their lives. They are offered places at a new centre run by Mission Australia in Sydney. But there are strict rules and not all of them will make it.
Story producer: ABC
Story
Four homeless men sign up for a chance to change their lives. They are offered places at a new centre run by Mission Australia in Sydney. But there are strict rules and not all of them will make it. Good evening. Welcome to Compass. I’m Geraldine Doogue.
Tonight a bold new Australian experiment to get homeless people off the streets, not just for the night, but for good. We follow four young men who sign up for the venture. It’s not so much a struggle to survive, rather a struggle to learn how to live. But it proves to be a tough journey and for some just too hard.
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
Travis, this is your room. So you’ve got your fresh linen. You can use this for storing your clothes.
NARR:
Travis has just come out of jail. He had nowhere to go and was offered a room here. More than somewhere to live, it’s a chance to change his life.
TRAVIS:
Oh, it’s good, it’s definitely better than other places I’ve stayed. Good
In office STEVE PRAGER: :
This is the grievance process, so if you have any problems, if you can come and see me first. They call us Unit Coordinators. I’m basically like your case worker.
NARR:
Travis is signing up for a bold new scheme to get homeless men off the streets for good.It’s not just a bed for the night. It’s a crash course in life in this new centre run by Mission Australia in Sydney. But there are strict rules
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
Basically, no drugs or alcohol to be consumed on the premises. No drug paraphernalia. And also no smoking in the building. So what we’ll do now, I’ll give you a little tour. And I’ll just show you the rosters and just settle in after that.
NARR:
Travis is joining around 40 men here. And from the moment they sign in the clock is ticking.
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
This is like the communal kitchen. So if you want to have a smoke, the guys smoke out on the balcony …
NARR:
They have three months. But not all of the men in this story will make it.
TONY:
My name’s Tony. I’m 45 years of age and I reside here with Australia Mission and I’ve been back here for a period of six weeks now. And I was very fortunate to make my way back here into this facility.
NARR:
Tony is half-way through his second stay at Mission Australia and there’s a lot at stake. He has a son. In foster care. If Tony can get his life sorted, prove he’s a fit parent, he may get to see more of him.
But it’s not a free ride as all the men find out.
STEVE GARVEY – Case Manager:
We’re almost full up here now. We need your bed. If you’re not going to work on your issues, if you’re here to use it as a hotel …
NARR:
Damien is also at the half way point, but he’s not doing the work expected of him.
STEVE GARVEY– Case Manager :
We want people in these beds who want to use the facilities for the right reasons.
DAMIEN:
Yes
NARR:
And he’s on notice
DAMIEN:
I want to do the right thing
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
You can offer you know, the world to people but unless they’re ready to change and they’ve had enough of that lifestyle, it can be difficult. But yeah if they’re, if they’re motivated to change I think you can definitely help anybody.
NARR:
And then there’s Reza. He’s a refugee from Iran who wound up homeless on the streets of Sydney.
REZA:
I was born in Iran, Teheran, the capital city. Just settling here, I’m still working on it.
NARR:
The Centre helped Reza find his feet and as long as he stays on track, in just two weeks he’ll get the keys to his own place.
DOMENIC ARCAMONE – Salvation Army Chaplain:
Well we can throw the vegetables into that.
NARR:
Mission Australia is a charity. It’s Christian and non-denominational. It helps people in need. The Centre is a gamble, a new experiment in turning lives around. Here, the men are taught the basics. How to wash, clean and cook. And a whole lot more.
DOMENIC ARCAMONE – Salvation Army Chaplain:
My role here is to come up alongside of these clients to teach them how to do a meal, but if we make contact and some rapport begins I follow up and come and see them and we have conversations together about life.
DOMENIC ARCAMONE – Salvation Army Chaplain:
Slug. A slug is someone who doesn’t want to take a step forward, don’t want to take a step backward, just got no desire at all inside them and that can be, like all compulsion, a way of dealing with pain.
TONY:
But that was my way of dealing with my pain, mental and physical.
NARR:
Tony has a long history of substance abuse.
TONY:
Just not having those skills how to simply express yourself. I was never encouraged or educated as a child on how to express myself …
NARR:
He’s battled his addictions for more than 20 years: alcohol, heroin, speed.
TONY:
And after 35 years of addiction I was suppressed, suppressed. I’ve since learnt there is a better way.
DOMENIC ARCAMONE – Salvation Army Chaplain:
You express yourself really well, you do.
TONY:
I was raised in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. I had my first drink at the age of 8. By the time I was 21, I’d spent 7 years in institutions and prisons. Addiction is something that I still continue to work on today. I have a beautiful little boy, 4 years of age. I really would like to continue and maintain the loving and caring relationship that I have with my son and basically just keep myself out of strife, out of mischief! Yeah, so that’s pretty much it at this point in time.
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit heavy handed on them. When I say heavy handed I don’t mean physical, but simply just to be firm.
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
You know last week when we talked about attending smart and the reason for you being here is taking a proactive approach in addressing issues. And you’ve missed a couple now, mate. So you need to work on that. We’re prepared to help and support you, but, basically, you do the work. That’s what drives us as Caseworkers. It’s not a great paying job. But it’s seeing outcomes. So we need to work on that.
NARR:
Sydney’s inner city is a beacon for the homeless. A refuge for the many hundreds who ‘sleep rough’ on its streets every night. Not so long ago Damien was on the streets too.
DAMIAN:
I lived in the foyer hotel for a short time. Besides that, where we’re going down here I lived on the stairs there for a while, the church. I’ve slept just in here. There’s shelter underneath there. That’s the church so we’re safe in there. It’s actually the community house of the church.
NARR:
No-one starves in Sydney. There’s free food, hostels and health care. It’s a city that works for its homeless. But it’s crisis care – a revolving door. Damien knows life on the streets has its own pull. The longer you stay, the harder it is to leave.
DAMIAN:
This is called the Caritas it’s an acute mental health unit. Going back about six months ago I was going thru a stage on that ice and speed and lost the plot. And basically went in there for a bit of a rest. When I was staying here, I was forced to stay here. They get you in a room, pin you on a bed and give you an injection at the slightest thing. It’s full on.
NARR:
Damien has been trapped in the homeless cycle for some time, without the life skills, support or strength to break free.
DAMIAN:
I was brought up by my grandparents. My father was a pilot from England. My mother was a musician. She became a drug addict. With her travelling and the music industry and I sort of caught on to that later on in life. When life’s issues came up and it was too hard I thought I’d try basically my mother’s recipe. And ended up with a drug problem. Unfortunately it happened after having had two children and a beautiful wife and I lost my family due to that.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
Many individuals or clients that come to our service here are here often through faults or reasons of their own doing and often if they have the right supports in a trusting and comfortable environment, I really believe the power of the human spirit cannot be underestimated.
NARR:
Reza, the refugee in the group, is still wrestling with the trauma of his past in Iran. Today he’s attending the art history classes offered at the centre, open to the local community as well. His interest in art is helping him overcome the depression he experienced after arriving in Australia.
REZA: :
I got sort of really confused, homesick, depressed, I went back to Iran, stayed one and a half year, I couldn’t stay there either, so I came back here again. I feel like suicide. I spent some time in hospital. Didn’t have any place, ended up in the street. But here they push you to do something and when you do something you’re involved with society. Sort of you have ongoing, small little goal. You feel everyday you graduate, you do something for yourself.
NARR:
Mission Australia’s newly refurbished centre was officially opened by the Prime Minister in September, 2005. It cost seven million dollars and everyone’s watching to see whether it works. There’s no-where else quite like it in the world.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
We actually do have purpose built sound studios and a live recording studio, and when I’ve had a bad day, I come down and scream my heart away. These are some of the CDs that the young people have produced over time.
NARR:
There’s also an art studio, a medical centre and fully equipped dental clinic. Often the first stop for men just off the streets.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
There is no longer that smell of disadvantage, or poverty, of those that are marginalised. You walk into this place um, it’s a happy place and there is a nice, pleasant aura and smell within the building. That wasn’t the case previously when we, when we were operating as Campbell House.
NARR:
Mission Australia ran Campbell House on the same site in Sydney’s inner-city for more than 25 years. Born in another era it was a large emergency shelter, providing beds for up to 110 homeless men a night.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
It was incredibly overwhelming. We had a large intoxicated persons unit where men used to come to sleep off the effects of the intoxication.
NARR:
But over the past few years the profile of a typical homeless person in Australia has changed.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
We had gone from men that were average age 55 with an alcohol addiction to a much younger group of men, average age 32 that were using drugs, that had mental health issues and all the other health issues that come along with that.
NARR:
The new Centre only takes in men who’ve been on the streets for less than four years: when there’s still a chance of breaking the cycle and achieving a successful ‘outcome’. Young men like Travis and Tony.
TRAVIS:
What is it, a discussion group or something?
TONY: :
Yes, a discussion group, just basically touching base on how your week’s been.
NARR:
This morning they’re on their way to a class to help them deal with their problems. If you check into the Mission Australia Centre you’re expected to go. Damien is supposed to be with them, but couldn’t be found in time.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
Morning everyone. Nice to see some new faces. Tony, you were here last week, would you like to just..
TONY:
yes, good morning everyone, I’m an addict. I’ve had a good week. About Wednesday I was beginning to struggle a little bit.
NARR:
This program is called SMART: Self-Management And Recovery Training. It’s designed to help the men break free from drugs and alcohol. To break the cycle that keeps them going back to the streets.
TONY:
I looked at the mental and physical side of addiction and what it costs me. And I looked at the benefits of recovery.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
So Tony, how did you go the rest of the week after the Thursday?
NARR:
Damian arrives. He’s late and will face the consequences later.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
How are you this week? Tell us how you’ve been going the last week?
NARR:
The men are encouraged to talk about their ‘temptations’ and how to deal with them.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
So if you are surrounded by people who are still using, what are you going to do? Because it’s very likely where you’re living that you are.
TONY:
I generally do the best I can to remove myself from that situation
DAMIAN:
That’s exactly what I do
TONY:
Just to move on basically
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
If you go out onto the street there are dealers everywhere. What are you going to do particularly if they know you? And you’re feeling a bit vulnerable one day. What are you going to do?
DAMIAN:
I’m scared of that happening.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
No, no. If you are just waiting for it to happen without any thought in it, it’s very likely you’ll go back to your old behaviour again.
DAMIAN:
No, I don’t feel like that at the moment. You could be right down the track but I’m really scared of it at the moment. To go back thru all that, all the pain and stuff.
JOSETTE FREEMAN – SMART Recovery Australia:
But you’ve got to work through that yourselves. Yes, you could very easily use but, is it worth it because of all the hard work that you’ve both have been putting in over the weeks and months?
NARR:
It’s a fortnight later and for Reza his hard work has paid off. His three months is up. He’s no longer suicidal, and Mission Australia has helped him find his own
REZA:
By now I’m feeling optimistic because I’m settling so well.
This is my home. We painted it the other day. What do you think about the paint? Good! The balcony, which I like. I’m doing my own thing, studying. Like my artworks.
DIANE JAZIC – Mission Australia Centre:
It’s often been said to me; you’re ultimate aim is to get everybody into jobs? And I say; well, yes that would be lovely if, if that was achievable for everybody but unfortunately it’s not achievable for many of our clients. But if they’re able to gain their own accommodation, if they’re able to have an interest in life other than often the chaotic lives that they lead with all the problems and difficulties that they’ve had, if they sustain those tendencies, they are an active member of our community and for me that is social and economic participation at its highest.
NARR:
Back at the Mission Australia centre, Damian is looking for a way out too. He is searching for jobs on the Internet, but Steve his case worker thinks it’s to early. Damian has been missing his classes and still has a lot of work to do.
STEVE GARVEY: G :
We can still look for work. Get a feel for the market and what’s out there, and availability. But basically let’s work on the issues first, get smart, get the drug issues under control.
DAMIAN:
I’ve only been to Smart twice now, that’s not really good. It’s what I said earlier. I say I go to all these courses but I’ve only been once, twice is the most I’ve been. You know, that was half a lesson.
STEVE GARVEY– CASE MANAGER :
We’re almost full up here now. So we need your bed. If you’re not going to work on your issues, if you’re here to use it as a hotel, that’s fine, we can find somewhere else for you. But basically we need people in these beds who want to use these facilities for the right reason.
DAMIAN:
I want to do the right thing. The reasons sound good to me. There’s a way out of drug addiction, if you want to use drugs, that’s your business. If you want to stop I know you’re the man that can help.
STEVE GARVEY– CASE MANAGER :
And all the staff here.
DAMIAN:
I just read that!
NARR:
Damien is walking a tightrope. The Mission Australia Centre is next to Sydney’s red light district and the drug trade. Temptation is always just around the corner. And not everyone in this story has enough strength yet to resist its power. By morning two of our men will pay the price.
TRAVIS:
I’ve been kicked out. I was in one of the other residents rooms for about 30 seconds. Steve came and knocked on the door and supposedly the other resident had a syringe in his hand and threw it in the bin. They only located one syringe and the other resident got evicted. I’ve been asked to leave.
STEVE PRAGER – Case Manager:
Yes I knocked on one of the clients doors, Tony, and as I opened the door I caught Tony throwing a syringe into the bin. And Travis was also in the room.
TRAVIS:
I’m pretty low. I’m terrible, you know. Just finding accommodation. Where am I going to spend tonight? I’ve just paid my rent here. I only just got paid on Tuesday, paid my rent so I‘ve got barely any money, just hard going thru the cycle, I’ve had enough, gets you down.
NARR:
Despite witnesses Tony has a different story about what was found in his room.
TONY:
Last night I was um, I was just in the process of rolling up a smoke – Yeah rolling up a joint yeah and a staff member came into my room and was aware of what I was doing at the time. And that led to me being discharged from Mission Australia.
NARR:
Tony is on his way to see his son. A trip planned long before last night’s eviction.
Tony must now rethink his future.
NARR:
The road to a stable life isn’t easy. Damian is still at the Centre after being granted an extension on his time there. Travis was last seen selling The Big Issue, a newspaper sold on the streets by the homeless. He was staying at a nearby hostel and hoping to get another chance at Mission Australia. Reza is settling into his new life and has exhibited some of his paintings at a local art show. And Tony, he’s admitted himself back into a drug rehabilitation program and is continuing to visit his son.
