RDNS 2008 Annual Report - Royal District Nursing Service

obert – client, RDNS Homeless Persons Program
It’s a glorious day: the sun is shining after its prolonged winter retreat
and the birds have returned to the branches of newly blooming trees.
They sing merrily, as if to celebrate the onset of new life. But today,
their choral efforts are being challenged.
On the third floor of a public housing estate in Melbourne’s inner
west, a singing voice booms out of a single open window. It’s mildly
gruff and recognisably male, but it holds its tune as it accompanies
the latest offering from FM radio. Most noticeably, it carries an air
of joy, of lightness, of hope. Like the birds, it seems to celebrate
new life.
The flat is small and sparsely furnished, but to its
occupant Robert, it’s almost palatial: most importantly
though, it’s home. After all, he explains, this is the first
place he has been able to call his own in his entire
life. For year after year Robert had been ‘living rough’.
Sometimes it was on other people’s couches, sometimes
on the streets, sometimes in the local lock-up. Most of
it was spent in a dark blur of alcohol and drugs he says,
in an attempt to dull the pain that he has kept locked
up inside since, as a three-year old, he spent time in
a boys’ home. He tells his story with painful honesty
and touching politeness. He is gentle and dignified
and his face, despite the years of abuse from external
and internal forces, has a tenderness and warmth that
betrays his history.
He had little hope he says, and was destined to maintain
his vicious cycle until one day, while he was ‘couch
surfing’ at a block of flats in Preston, someone noticed
him. That someone was Darren, from RDNS’ Homeless
Persons Program, and what began as a sequence of
short exchanges gradually led to a life-changing series
of events.
At first, Robert was wary of this stranger, explaining
that no-one had taken an interest in him before.
“I kept waiting for the bill!” he says with a warm
chuckle. There was no bill and there was no agenda,
except for Darren to ensure that Robert was linked into
the support services he needed to help turn his life
around. The early days were challenging: Robert needed
temporary accommodation; he was badly malnourished
and of his substance abuse he simply says: “There was a
fair bit going into the system”. Darren helped link Robert
into the relevant services, and although progress was
slow to come, come it did.
With disarming candour and heart-warming
honesty, Robert says that it was then, once
the fog had lifted a little, that he realised
there was a better life than the one he had
been living for over 20 years.
Darren helped to educate him about his health, he
reduced his drinking significantly and he had his teeth
fixed, which had been in a bad state of repair. After so
long, Robert felt he could smile again. But perhaps the
most significant moment came when he moved into
his current flat. It was here, he says, that he had one of
the happiest days of his life: he received an electricity
bill. “I’d never received anything with my own name and
my own address on it before,” he explains, aware of the
paradox of the experience.
He is proud of how far he has come. He is living
independently now, cooking for himself and eating
more healthily. He sees “different sorts of people” socially
to avoid the temptations of his former life and he enjoys
gardening, often lending a helping hand in a nearby
neighbour’s garden. He talks about his love of writing
and he says that he’d like to work.
Darren has a less prominent role in Robert’s life these
days, maintaining a balance between ensuring things
are going well and allowing Robert to build a life of
independence. “There’s a bit of letting go,” Darren
explains, ”but you don’t want anyone to become
dependent. We’re not always successful; you see people
fall through. But Robert, he’s a good story. A good story.”
Robert makes his way into the laneway that borders
his home, checking his mailbox on the way. The sun
floods his face with warmth and his eyes light up as he
breathes in the fresh, lightly scented air. Above him the
birds of his neighbourhood launch into another cheerful
chorus. Robert smiles. Yes, there is good reason to sing.
Our clients: diversity and dignity RDNS Annual Report 2008
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