ST MARY'S IS FOR THOSE WHO NEED A PLACE TO CALL HOME
Inspired by the work of the Daughters of Charity, St Mary’s House of Welcome provides support for disadvantaged people experiencing homelessness, poverty and mental illness. St Mary’s offers various services that focus on good nutrition, showers and hygiene, emergency relief, housing referrals, friendship and social inclusion.
St Mary's is located at 165-169 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. The centre is open 6 days a week and welcomes anyone over the age of 18.
St Mary's is located at 165-169 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. The centre is open 6 days a week and welcomes anyone over the age of 18.
would you like to make a contribution?
St Mary's is always in need of donations of money and food ingredients. To donate money, please visit the donation page on the St Mary's website, or to donate food and other things, please contact us for further information.
services at st mary's
Community Support Services
St Mary's provides information, advice and referral, emergency relief, showers and free and cheap meals for people in need. There is a garden courtyard to potter around in and enjoy the sunshine and a pool room for some friendly competitions. |
Meal Service
The St Mary's dining room offers free breakfast, and lunch for $2. Our chefs create delicious, healthy meals using donated ingredients. |
Volunteers
At St Mary's we are so grateful for the help of our volunteers. We wouldn't be able to run the centre without the many hours of support from our fantastic volunteers. |
Activities
There are so many activities at St Mary's: walking groups, cooking classes, singing group, art classes, photography outings, fishing trips, cricket and pool competitions. They're all great fun, and the main purpose is to encourage socially isolated people to engage with other people in the community, and to have a friendship network to lean on when needed. |
Voting Booth
Each election, St Mary's has its own mobile voting booth. Many of our service users have no permanent address or are not enrolled to vote. Having the voting booth at St Mary's allows many people to register and vote who had previously been unable to vote. |
The Big Give
On Christmas day, St Mary's puts on a Christmas lunch for 300 homeless and disadvantaged people, including about 70 children. There was a traditional Christmas lunch and presents for everyone. Over 100 volunteers donated their time on Christmas day to give a special experience to people who may otherwise miss out. Many generous people and businesses donated food, gifts and money to make the event possible. The Big Give photos taken by Chun Yin Cho |
We served 42,000 meals in the past year.
Each week we use about 144 litres of milk, 4 kgs of instant coffee (that’s 4 of the giant tins!) and 6kg of rolled oats. We provide over 800 meals per week to people who may otherwise go hungry. Food Donations
St Mary's relies on donations of food from big supporters such as Foodbank Victoria and SecondBite, as well as the generosity of regular donations from lots of local businesses and restaurants, and many individual donors. |