Mackay woman Kayleigh Brewster takes up inspirational fight for homelessness change

When a man she’d befriended died soon after being forced back onto the streets following a major surgery, one Mackay mum’s staunch fight for change was sparked.

After watching a homeless man she’d befriended die from infection when he was forced back onto the streets following a leg amputation, one Mackay woman was compelled to do more.

The harrowing reality sparked a young mother of two to fight back, case-by-case, against the homelessness crisis gripping the region.

Kayleigh Brewster said her life intertwined with the “elderly gentleman” when she phoned for help after he fell on Sydney St.

“While waiting for the ambulance, I had a chat with him and discovered he was experiencing homelessness and he didn’t have any family that I could call to let them know,” Mrs Brewster said.

“Then following that, I went to visit him in the hospital and I tried to get him some help for when he got out ... but he’d burnt a lot of bridges and there weren’t a lot of options so he was released back into homelessness.

“Then he got a severe infection in his leg, which resulted in him having to go back in and have it amputated.”

Mrs Brewster gifted him a single pink slipper but not long after his release, he died.

The other slipper is safely tucked away in her wardrobe, a token to remember him.

Their short but impressionable friendship inspired Mrs Brewster to think divergently when she met a young homeless “fella” about a year later while working as a drug and alcohol nurse in the early stages of her nursing career.

Kayleigh Brewster from Chances Cafe. Picture: Michaela Harlow

“We realised there was a real lack of employment opportunities; that was when we decided to open the cafe,” Mrs Brewster said.

Founding the Australian Street Aid Project in 2018, Mrs Brewster teamed up with the youngster to scrape together enough funds to open Chances Cafe, a safe place where people experiencing homelessness can find employment or a meal to eat, and access medical treatment.

Members of the public can also buy food, pick up a steal on op-shopped goods, or pay it forward to sponsor a meal, a night’s accommodation, a street kit care pack, or even chip towards veterinarian costs.

Mrs Brewster said it had been a difficult and amazing journey, despite admitting at times she questioned her own sanity.

“People who are experiencing homelessness are just people,” she said.

“That’s why I always say ‘people experiencing homelessness’ because they’re a person first, and they’re a person that’s fallen on hard times. They’re just like me and you.”

Chances Cafe founder Kayleigh Brewster is passionate about helping people experiencing homelessness including giving them access to medical care. Picture: Michaela Harlow

With ASAP recently announced as one of two beneficiaries for next year’s Mackay Mayor’s Charity Ball, which in 2022 raised a record $120,000, Mrs Brewster has outlined how a donation would be put to good use.

She said it would top-up the now-depleted specialist homeless medical pool, which Mackay Community Foundation gifted $10,000 earlier this year.

The pool met a “massive need for medical assistance”, linking clients to clinicians like doctors, optometrists and dentists.

Mrs Brewster is also hoping the ball unlock the purchase of a fit-for-purpose travelling medical van that a nurse would operate.

Next in the project line is a “sleep bus” where those experiencing homeless can seek refuge.

“So many people are robbed, or injured, or assaulted on the streets at night. We need to raise $100,000 for that (project),” she said.

A Mackay Hospital and Health Service spokesman said when staff were aware a patient was homeless, they offered extra support.

“(This) includes connecting the patient with our social work team and offering to connect them with a range of local housing and social services,” he said.

“Our emergency team can also extend a patient’s stay as an overnight social admission in our short-stay unit if this is deemed necessary.

“This offers a safe place overnight before our team assists them to connect with local services on their discharge the following morning.

“Our team may also provide taxi vouchers on discharge to enable a patient to transport them to these support services.”

It is understood the MHHS is able to provide contact details and help people experiencing homelessness make phone calls for accommodation, housing, charity and social services, and on occasions, arrange for service representatives to visit the hospital.

The 2023 Mayor’s Ball will split proceeds between ASAP and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

RMHC North Australia CEO Tamara South said she was delighted and it would allow them to make a “vital difference in the ongoing operations” of the recently opened Ronald McDonald Family Room at Mackay Base Hospital.