The time leading up to Christmas is a strange time when you are active in homelessness support. Every year I receive messages from people who have never interacted with humans experiencing homelessness but who want to help them on Christmas Day. I usually refer them to the major charities who all offer Christmas lunches to those who are struggling, and I let them know that Christmas Day is the one day of the year that our homeless are looked after exquisitely (which is an important reason why we at Signal Flare have no events on Christmas Day). I tell them, if you really want to make a difference, do something nice for a homeless person on any of the other 364 days of the year. I realize it takes away some of the magic of doing good on Christmas Day, but homelessness and the despair, stigma and isolation experienced by those living it are very real and don’t magically disappear come 26 December, or it must be the invisibility that kicks in again and that makes us not-see but that makes us rummage through our handbag or study the sky when we pass a homeless person on the street.

And so, after hours and hours of preparation, Signal Flare’s Christmas BBQ for the Homeless and Others in Need was finally there and ready for kick-off at 10am on the last Sunday of November. It had been a week of rain and grey clouds. I received queries from people – generally new volunteers – asking what would happen in the case of rain, would we cancel, was there a Plan B? The long-time volunteers know that the answer is always the same: no Plan B. Our BBQ goes ahead unless the council requires us to cancel the event, because people in genuine need do come regardless of the weather and we cannot not turn up for them! And famously: “it never rains on our BBQs”. A bold statement perhaps, but this time, too, it proved to be spot-on! Lots of downpour on the days before and after the BBQ, but come Sunday 26 November the sun was out and the skies were blue.

It was truly an amazing but also confronting day. and although our BBQs are always very, very well attended, nothing could have prepared us for the huge number of guests that came to celebrate Christmas with us that day. We were so pleased that so many struggling people found their way to our event. It is a Christmas miracle that nobody left unfed – except Ann, our invaluable shuttle driver, who tirelessly picked up and dropped off guests all day. I did my best to persuade her to have a break and something to eat, but Ann insisted on just surviving on a whole lot of coffee she had brought from home. It was an indication of how big her job was on the day. An indication of how big the day was full stop. When you see so many people who are so obviously struggling, when you see so much need, so much hardship, taking a break is the last thing you think about. You want to keep going, keep helping, keep giving and in Ann’s case, keep driving people to the event and back as they were waiting to be picked up in droves…

Contrary to some stubborn prejudices that live in our society, our guests showed impeccable behaviour and patience, just enjoying themselves like anyone at a social gathering. The day of our Christmas BBQ was a highlight of human connection for many, a gold-letter day in an otherwise bleak situation. Santa had presents for all children (another miracle; thank you, community!), the line for non-perishable foods went for tens of metres but everyone waited their turn and we had items for all. There were lines for our amazing lunch, for the toiletries, the haircuts and the medical checks and consultations with our visiting GP. Our inviting social area always forms the heart of our BBQ set-up. With tables and chairs under the marquees, it is a much-loved and well-visited area where people eat their lunch, relax, rest, listen to the music and connect with others. It is something so human that they rarely get to experience.

A wonderful day for all who were there but, sadly, also a day that painfully highlighted the enormous hardship that lives in our community. Many volunteers expressed overwhelm with the sheer level and amount of hardship they were witnessing. There was disbelief seeing people living in tents just across the path in the park. There weren’t as many tents the last time we were in Musgrave Park. Our new homeless… For many of our beautiful volunteers it was a reality that stung on Sunday. All they can do – and do do – is be wonderful and heartful each time they interact with our homeless, and the impact that has is immeasurable. But this hardship also needs to be seen and it needs to sting those in power for change to occur. I hope they have occasions where they see not only the reports and the statistics but also the magnitude of real people in the real world having real struggles.

BBQ Sunday went and turned into Monday and into Tuesday and the rain wouldn’t let up. And I thought about the people living in their tents at Musgrave Park. We saw them. They aren’t just abstract statistics. These are real people living real lives who, a year ago, couldn’t imagine they would live like this today. My heart breaks for these people. I am also thinking of those who have had to adapt to survive on the streets for years, and who now couldn’t even imagine adapting back to life off the streets and between the walls of a home. I’m thinking of anyone anywhere on that spectrum between newly homeless and long-time survivor. No one can honestly say that increasing homelessness and poverty in a First World nation like ours is good enough. It’s not.

I am touched to see how, in such hard times, generosity still blossomed. Our community came together once again and gave so much. Beautiful to have the Scouts so involved at several BBQs now – the next generation! Without our beautiful community there would be no meals, no clothes, no Christmas presents to give away. Without our volunteers out in force we would not be able to run an event like ours. Signal Flare does not receive any funding, we all volunteer our time (and a LOT of time – and passion – goes into the preparation of every event!) and we can do what we do only by the grace of our community. There is so much good will out there, and for that we are endlessly grateful. Our community is big-hearted and that is at the basis of many good things great and small. And as long as that is the case, our message is HOPE. Homelessness doesn’t have to last forever. Homelessness can be just a chapter of your life with a beginning and an end, and then the next chapter begins.

See you at our next event!

For more information please email contact@signalflare.org.au or visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HomelessBBQs/

Warm regards,

Berni Palings

Signal Flare