Providing more that 500 safe sleeps since launching 12 months ago, an invaluable service is crying out for volunteers to keep its wheels moving.
After a heart-warming community campaign, led by the Maroochydore Neighbourhood Centre in 2020, the arrival of the Sleepbus to the region in January 2022 was a way to provide temporarily relief to those impacted by the continuing housing crisis.
Offering a safe night’s sleep in a private, comfortable pod within a reconfigured bus, the service has been operating Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from Maroochydore.
While the bus can sleep 18, most nights there are about nine guests onboard.
So far it has notched up more than 540 sleeps across about 160 service days and kept 380 men and 161 women off the streets.
However, as demand for the service continues, newly appointed Sleepbus service co-ordinator Natalie Genoni told Sunshine Coast News the organisation is in desperate need of local volunteers.
She said there was about 20 to 25 regular volunteers covering a range of roles, but that was not enough for the service to grow.
She said more volunteers would allow for the bus to operate daily and eventually support the long-anticipated arrival of a pink Sleepbus for women and children that Ms Genoni said was due around winter.
“We want to be running seven nights a week but that comes down to volunteer numbers,” Ms Genoni said.
“If we lose one or two people, or a volunteer cannot make a shift, then it doesn’t leave us with many.
“The numbers are there for using the service and I really think if we had more consistency in opening then we can have more people regularly.”
Starting off as a volunteer herself on the first Sleepbus shift last year, Ms Genoni said there were positions for overnight caretakers, service volunteers, housekeepers and bus drivers.
“We desperately need bus drivers, so anyone with a HR licence that can help drive the bus to the location each night,” she said.
“Caretakers spend the night on board inside their own secure cabin and are there if the guests need anything during the night.
“It’s really rewarding because if you’re in the caretakers role, when you wake up and see (the passengers) in the morning they are like brand new people.
“Night service volunteers help from 8.30pm until 10pm. That was where I first started. You can come for a chat and it’s about making them feel welcome.”
Official Sleepbus data revealed the Maroochydore service was helping people from under the age of 18 to over 70, however its largest age bracket was from 30 to 49.
In 12 months it has helped 171 people aged between 30 and 39 and 148 aged between 40 and 49.
Ms Genoni said many of these people were being impacted by the rental shortage and were income earners, with some even waking up to go to work after sleeping on the bus.
“The people you meet are phenomenal, they are from all walks of life,” she said.
In response to the continuing rental crisis, Sunshine Coast Council announced last week it would waive permit fees for those living in temporary housing and struggling financially.
The fee will only be waived until June 30 if applicants can show that due to extenuating circumstances they are finding it difficult to pay the fee.
For more information or to volunteer, visit Sleepbus.
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