PROGRAMS

Wayside Chapel’s Community Services Centre’s (CSC) – one in Kings Cross and one in Bondi – have been providing community services to members of the eastern suburbs since 1964. CSC staff and volunteers work together, seven days a week, to provide those of our community who are sleeping rough with a safe space and amenities such as showers and emergency clothing, as well as information and referral services within the Inner City. CSC provides:

• Referrals for short and long-term crisis accommodation and housing
• Weekly onsite legal, health, and counselling clinics in collaboration with Homeless Persons’ Legal Service, Centrelink and St Vincent’s Homeless Health
• Referral services to health and welfare agencies
• Advocacy and care-coordination
• Meeting spaces for self-help and community groups like SMART Recovery program for people experiencing addiction

At Wayside, we see everyone as a person to be met, not a problem to be solved. We work through meeting people rather than working on them – we never greet anyone at the door with a clipboard or a form with boxes to tick. The issues facing visitors to Wayside are varied and complex, including domestic violence, mental health, homelessness, social isolation, grief & loss, probation & parole.

Community Service Centre – Kings Cross

Community Service Centre – Bondi

The Wayside cafes in Kings Cross and Bondi Beach provide low-cost meals and beverages in a warm, relaxed and friendly environment. Our cafes are the busiest and liveliest part of Wayside, with people from all walks of life coming together for a meal, a coffee or simply to spend time together in a safe place.

While our cafe meals are not free, they are extremely affordable. Items range from 20c to $4. This is consistent with the greater Wayside mentality of a hand up rather than a handout and helps to provide our visitors with the dignity of choice.

The Wayside cafes offer an invitation into community, where people can come together and enjoy delicious, healthy food and the company of others.

Kings Cross Cafe 

Bondi Cafe 

Wayside’s Aboriginal Program provides a dedicated space for our Aboriginal community to feel empowered and create a sense of belonging and place in the Kings Cross area. Wayside brings Aboriginal people from all over Australia together, respecting traditional customs and sensitivities, and helping to share history and storytelling.

Our Aboriginal Program Workers engage and support Aboriginal visitors and tailor the program to the needs of the Aboriginal community, which makes up around 25% of all visitors to Wayside. Through this service we provide:

• A living skills program
• A weekly mob lunch
• An arts and storytelling program
• Assistance with education, employment and referral out of disadvantaged areas
• Counselling, advocacy and research
• Support for court matters
• Referrals for accommodation, health and welfare

Wayside’s Aboriginal Program creates a space where Aboriginal elders and youth come together to be part of a family network.

Telephone: 02 9581 9100
Email: [email protected]

Wayside’s Day to Day Living Program (D2DL) provides people living with a long-term mental health issue with a safe and supportive environment.

Through a range of educational, social and recreational group-based activities, participants are encouraged to seek out their vocation, discern what ‘recovery’ means for them and focus on making their future dreams a reality by creating opportunities for themselves each day.

Through this service we provide:

• Support for people experiencing social isolation
• Social, recreational and educational activities
• Community outings

Wayside’s Day to Day Living participants also have the opportunity to take part in Wayside’s Catering Club, which provides catering for meetings, cocktail functions, exhibitions and dinners. This initiative provides income that is directed back into our programs and services, as well as providing an opportunity for our visitors to learn new skills and gain relevant job experience.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme is rolling out in our area to provide supports that help people with physical and intellectual disabilities and mental health issues. Many of those supports will be offered at Wayside.

People with a plan can contact us at [email protected] to request access to supports.

If you want help preparing for an NIDS planning meeting you can contact Day To Day Living at [email protected] or come in to talk to a Day To Day Living Worker.

A support list has not yet been approved but will be available soon. For more information, check out the NDIS website here.

When the people we support get back on their feet, the first thing they often want to do is find work or a meaningful vocation to enrich their life. It may seem like a straightforward step but for people with little or no experience, getting into a job or training can involve a long and bumpy road that often ends in frustration and defeat rather than employment. A little extra help goes a long way.

Wayside’s Pathways Program offers support to people across all program areas at Wayside. The project matches people who are ready to move into work or training with organisations that want to make a difference in the community.

Wayside is committed to creating more pathways for our visitors and making this program a key strategic initiative for the organisation. Wayside also now employs 11 supported employees (15% of Wayside’s total workforce).

Wayside’s Twilight Program delivers a structured activities program and manages a drop in space to support the needs of people in the neighbourhood in the early evening. From 5pm-10:30pm the Twilight Team runs activities from bingo to drama to pamper sessions to engage people at a time of day that can be lonely for people sleeping rough and people with a limited network of friends and family. In addition to activities, the Twilight Team also provides a safe place for people to spend the evening and access essential services such as showers, a change of clothes and a warm meal.