Garry's Story

Our wonderful Community Volunteer, Garry has been a big part of our Homelessness Recovery Model at Ozanam House - which emphasises on creating opportunities for people to reconnect with their communities and establish new pathways that enable recovery and growth.
Having experienced homelessness himself, this #HomelessnessWeek2021 Garry wants to raise awareness regarding the stigmas around homelessness. He says, “You know, a lot of people say well, someone that's homeless is either a drug addict or a person that's just come out of prison or an alcoholic. It's not really the case. Every single person's journey is different. There are no two people that are the same, there could be a thousand reasons.”
Garry strongly advocates that focus on housing alone is not enough for people who have experienced homelessness. He says, “(At VincentCare Victoria) I've accessed and learnt to use meditation and mindfulness and dietary - things that are healthy for me instead of just going for the easy option. They're all helping you build yourself back up.”
In this heart-warming interview, he talks about his volunteering experience “Even though a lot of people say like, ‘I do volunteering to help other people’ I see it the other way that volunteering actually helped me. It gave me the rhythm to reconnect and open up and probably find myself.”
Thank you, Garry, for sharing your story and for being such a cherished member of VincentCare Victoria.