Adelaide woman Lois Brewis sets herself a daily task to be ‘the one kind voice in someone’s day’

Meet the Adelaide woman whose job it is to be ‘the one kind voice in someone’s day’. We go behind the scenes at a long-serving local charity.

Catherine House intake support worker Lois Brewis says her job means she is the first to hear the pleas for help from women in need of a safe place. Picture: Brett Hartwig.

For the past half a decade, Lois Brewis has arrived at work knowing there will be a pile of overnight emails and dozens more phone messages to respond to before she even thinks about the new day’s to-do list.

But far from being daunted by the formidable workload, her only wish is for the communication waiting in her inbox and voicemail to tell a different story.

The 67-year-old is the face behind the kind voice at Adelaide women’s accommodation and support services Catherine House.

Her role as intake support worker means she is the first to hear the pleas for help from women in need of a safe place to call home.

“Mostly women are crying and begging … they are just looking for a roof over their head and will say things like ‘I will just sit in the corner and not make any noise’,” she says.

“Sometimes there will be 20 missed calls from overnight that I need to return before I even start my day.

“I never get a happy phone call, if people are ringing me, they are not ringing to say, ‘it is a beautiful day, the sun is shining’.

Catherine House generic pix for SM Blanket Appeal

“They are ringing me to ask for something that mostly they are very embarrassed to ask for, so many say to me, ‘I have never been in this position before, I never thought I would be’.”

“Some of the stories can be quite sad and I need to listen for things not being said.”

A social worker for 24 years, Ms Brewis says her unwavering priority is to be “the one kind voice in someone’s day”.

She will get as many as 40 calls in a day, increasingly from women she wouldn’t hear from previously – those with jobs.

“Yes, it gets heavy, and yes there are days that are hard but it still comes back to being the one kind voice in a person’s day – that is what I aim for everyday,” she says.

“The thing I am finding is we are getting people who are working who have no home ... who are in tents. They are just so humiliated by the whole thing.”

Amid the heartache and desperation, there are phone calls Ms Brewis looks forward to; the ones in which she gets to share the good news a room has become available.

“A lot will cry but then they become very excited … when you come from being on the street to suddenly being offered a bed, regular meals, toiletries … it can be overwhelming,” she says, adding women also get wide-ranging support, from someone to help them find a place to live to education opportunities.

“It’s not just a room, (it) gives women an amazing new beginning.”

As well as being contacted directly by women, Ms Brewis also receives referrals.

Sadly, the waitlist for a room in the long-serving charity’s crisis accommodation is usually at least three months with the current cost of living distress and affordable housing scarcity only driving up demand – both in terms of those seeking the service and the time it takes to find long-term solutions for those they do help, up from three months to five or six.

In response to the increased demand, a new Waitlist Support Service has been launched with funding from the Lang Family Foundation

Jaylee Cooper, Manager Philanthropy and Engagement, said the extended offering, allowing added support for those waiting for room, was critical.

“Women often say for them a call (from Catherine House advising a room is available) is life-changing … when they do get that call from Lois, it is a sense of, ‘OK I can breathe again … I have got somewhere now that I know I can stay and I can start to get support’.

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