| Home Archived by the National Library of Australia Homeless Hot Gossip 12 Latest 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Oldest Fan Mail Send your latest insights to [email protected] Messages posted from 7 February 2009 to 6 April 2009 The most recent message appears at the top. Last update Monday 6 April 2009 Good Food Wasted Next week: comment from WestCare neighbour; Anthony back from Sydney; why WestCare is kicking out large numbers of clients while Byron Place is not: WestCare 2009 calendar cover man kicked out permanently - so many getting kicked out. Latest Guest Book Entries Last guest book entry 6 April 2009. See also Guest Book Archive This page full. Next page is Hot Gossip 13 Thief returns to Fred's Van The Ghost-who-walks offered temporary sanctuary at his home last year to a man who then allegedly stole his van and camping equipment. This fellow returned to Fred's Van last Thursday. The ghost was incensed that the homeless scene's Lance Armstrong sat and talked to him last Thursday night. Lance is a Christian. The ghost doesn't understand his own quality that encourages people to rip him off. "Generosity," I told him. "Nothing to be too worried about; maybe you could exercise a little more prudence," I forgot to add. 6 April 2009 Big changes at WestCare Ian Townsend and a man in a suit arrived at the WestCare kitchen during lunch on Monday last week. There were loud voices and the waving of arms as one of them "laid down the law". Jayne H, David S, Don, Stuart and others were in the kitchen. The result has been that the cook, Jayne H, can no longer go into the outer cool room, nor can she order, collect or distribute food. Her terrain is reduced to the four walls of the kitchen and that doesn't include the dining room. Once the food is passed across the servery counter her influence has ended. She can no longer kick clients out of WestCare because they stare at her. A volunteer serving food in the dining room reputedly said to her last week: "Don't tell me what to do. I don't work on your side of the kitchen." Stuart and the paid employee, Richard, now collect the food from Villis, Balfours and Food Bank though the free milk is still not picked up. Instead of being tossed into the rubbish buns and pies are again distributed at 1:30pm though in lesser amounts. The rest is sent to Byron Place, St Vinnies and the Salvation Army "drunk tank". Jayne can no longer use the computers in the office to play games as this was annoying the office staff. Her empire has crumbled though she still has the important responsibility of directing the cooking for which she is paid. Her empire has crumbled and it will be a credit to her integrity if she can muster the strength of character to continue in this position. Perhaps the three people kicked out after trying to expose the food irregularities should get unconditional pardons and be asked to return to WestCare. WestCare has always been my favourite homeless joint, abundantly full of goodwill. 6 April 2009 Semaphore Fred's Van 6pm Sundays St Bedes, 200 Military Road, Semaphore Held inside the activity room St Vincent de Paul About 15 clients attended on 29 March 2009. At least eight staff served food and coffee. Customers were mostly from the Supported Residential Facilities (cheapo boarding houses). Most were physically ill from psychiatric medication side-effects. Somewhat grim staff served Fred's Van famous sausages; white bread; fried onions; pasta with meat; grated cheese; salad; tea, coffee and Milo; aged cram buns. The salad ran out before I reached it. It was a thirty-minute affair with staff handing out surplus food at end of meal. Outside at the bus stop two Asians asked me bus directions but I didn't have an answer so I took the man inside with his map. A woman staff member looked at the map optimistically then said she knew the bus the man wanted. Before speaking further to him she turned her attention to me then nodded towards the door so I left. Do these charity workers ever realise the messages they convey to customers and whether these messages are justified? See the Adelaide free food page 31 March 2009 Cutting costs at RadiologySA RadiologySA in Port Adelaide is using third year radiology students doing work experience to take X-rays from start to finish. The patient never actually sees a real radiologist. But they do bulk bill Medicare. 28 March 2009 The meat scam at WestCare? The WestCare cook allegedly phoned the butcher with orders that usually included two grades of each type of meat product. For example, chicken sticks came in plain and gourmet while sausages would arrive as plain and the more expensive seasoned variety. The cheaper products were served to clients but the expensive version of what was served that day stayed in the cool room then would disappear that afternoon. Other staff apparently thought something odd was going on but were afraid to alert management because they were afraid of retribution or for other reasons. These are the still as yet unproven allegations. 28 March 2009 Free milk available but WestCare clients don't get it The Dairy Farmers milk depot at Clarence Gardens phoned WestCare earlier last week asking why they hadn't picked up the free milk. WestCare, apparently, has neglected this source of free milk since the fiasco where they kept huge amounts in the WestCare storeroom while denying it to clients. Finally, when the milk went putrid they gave it to a pig farmer for his animals. The free milk currently sitting in the Dairy Farmers cool rooms, and still within the Use-By date, could go straight to the WestCare cool room then distributed to clients. 25 March 2009 Religious cooperation Roger "Rogerson" and Des from the Uniting Church at Athelstone are helping Teen Challenge distribute the Jasmin Restaurant meal in Hindmarsh Square on Thursdays. They've started providing quality fruit before the meal. Des comes from a farming family and teaches science and maths at the Jesuit's St Aloysius School. 25 March 2009 GPS idea for WestCare van WestCare was so concerned about the disappearing food and use of their van that they talked about putting a GPS device to track it. It isn't known if the device has been installed. 25 March 2009 Oh, ye hypocrite? Mr David Cappo was on ABC radio 5AN this morning again shouting that judges should lock up his pet hate: aboriginal youth small time delinquents and criminals. Many would agree with his sentiments, but we should remember the abuse that happens in prison: unnecessary strip searches that constitute body abuse; secretly watching prisoners in their private moments like using the toilet. And with overcrowded jails is he really, subconsciously advocating the �offenders� receive what he knows happens in jails. While common crime reduces civil life there are other crimes involving probity issues where a powerful group can manipulate the government into selling land at below market value, in secret and not giving other groups the opportunity to make higher bids. Corruption is everywhere and we need an independent corruption investigator that might investigate whether Mr Cappo�s church got a special deal on that land at Victoria Square and whether Mr Cappo was involved. 23 March 2009 Can Collector looking for new car Adelaide's Celebrity Can Collector is looking for another car after someone smashed the windscreen of that old red and black station wagon he bought from Tony. The Collector can't be bothered finding a new windscreen for the old bomb. The window was smashed in Victoria Square a couple of weeks ago. The Ghost-who-walks is currently driving the Collector around Adelaide. 23 March 2009 Yes, Minister, again HousingSA (Housing Trust) has 1872 vacant properties some of which have been sitting empty for two years. HousingSA has discovered that it operates more smoothly when large numbers of houses and flats remain empty rather than when rented to people. Jennifer "Rankles" Rankin, the new Minister for Destroying the Housing Trust has nothing to say on the matter except clich�s that probably originated from some dictionary of spin doctoring. What is worse is the bureaucrat secrecy when allocating properties to new tenants. Allocation secrecy breeds corruption and should be examined by an independent corruption investigator. Thanks to Member of Parliament, Robert Brokenshire, and for the statistics. 23 March 2009 What the driver saw A former driver at WestCare Baptist homeless centre in Miller's Court, Adelaide said he regularly received a list from WestCare cook, Jayne H, of food items to be picked up from Food Bank. Some items were free; others had to be purchased. According to the driver, Jayne marked certain items on the list such as sugarless soft drinks, biscuits, chocolate, and chips and told the driver not to deliver them to WestCare but to her private residence in Little Gilbert Street in Adelaide. The rest went to the WestCare homeless centre itself. This arrangement succeeded for years, apparently, because Food Bank invoices went directly from Food Bank to Baptist Care Services head office. This meant invoice lists weren't matched to what actually arrived at the WestCare homeless centre. According to the still unproven allegations Jayne got two warnings from Arthur, a supervisory employee. Three warnings meant the sack. But Baptist Care Services transferred Arthur to Port Pirie so when another employee warned Jayne in writing about food continually disappearing and letting her father in the back gate with his car, it was counted as a first warning because a different employee gave it. "That's how the system of cover-up works at WestCare," the driver told me last week. He added, "Let's hope the next driver doesn't fall into the trap and leave himself wide open to being a suspect with no form of defence because he was the one that signed for the goods at Food Bank. It becomes a case of 'he said, she said', when there is no final check of the goods at WestCare. Jane used to go to Food Bank before I started driving for WestCare." To date the three people at WestCare who risked their own wellbeing to expose this alleged corruption have been expelled. This happened because upper management of Baptist Care Services actively succours bad management practices and expels whistleblowers. 18 March 2009 The reason for kicking out the WestCare client for one year The 12-month ban man was surprised while eating at the Magdalene Centre�s Saturday evening free meal when he discovered that one of the food servers was the ex-WestCare employee who kicked him out of that place for one-year. The server said he�d done it to �keep the peace� with Jayne, the WestCare cook. According to the banned man there had never been any actual charge against him except that the cook felt that his presence made her feel uncomfortable. Another source said the ex-Westcare employee said he had to keep Jayne happy and in any conflict between a staff member and a client the staff member�s interests were held to be more important. This second source said the ex-employee said that Jayne had also approached veteran WestCare employee, Ken Henderson, to kick out Arnie. �Jayne,� Ken was alleged to have replied. �He�s an eighty-year-old man.� Ken didn�t kick Arnie out. Arnie died of natural causes soon after. 16 March 2009 Peter C lifts the moral bar Name (optional) : Peter C URL (optional) : Comments (max 35 words) : Yes, Jayne in my opinion wreaks havoc amongst clients & volunteers. Yes, I'd like to see her sacked if she doesnt change. But its totally unnecessary to use derogatory terms about Jayne's size to achieve these aims. So please stick to the truth & facts. From the guest book 16 march 2009 More praise for the beloved cook �Just after Christmas Jayne went on holiday during which time the kitchen was run by volunteers. It ran like clockwork. Then, back just a week, she took another paid week off attending a seminar. The kitchen again worked like clockwork. So why is WestCare willing to employ a paid cook when her services aren't really needed? Her wages could be better spent on client needs like food parcels.� 14 March 2009 Shooting the messenger Jayne, the cook at WestCare has chosen an individual to blame, according to rumour, for this website publishing details of recent food wastage. Welfare clients were denied nearly a quarter tonne of day-old pies and pastries that were hidden in the store room for a few days then thrown out. Rumour has it that the alleged informer will be accused of theft then expelled, but not openly. It will be a surreptitious. Key staff will vilify and verbally abuse him until he leaves. Management will then claim he left of his own accord and is welcome back any time, but if he does return, even as a client, certain staff will make his visit unpleasant enough so he won't return again. That is the rumour. This post was written one month ago. The prophecy came about. Posted 13 March 2009 WestCare refuses to deal with complaints against cook unless put in writing WestCare management refuse to question their controversial cook unless the client or unpaid worker puts a complaint in writing. This intimidates many in the homeless scene who hate signing forms and letters. Many have minimal literacy skills. One wonders if that is not the reason for this policy. Letters can so often be used later against the person making the complaint. One wonders if paid workers have to put their complaints against clients in writing before senior management take action. 13 March 2009 In praise of WestCare "Personally, I like WestCare. Both the paid and unpaid workers have always been open with me. Jane is an iconic figure in the kitchen who impresses many with her presence. Ken Henderson, back from Anglicare, is terrific - and he comes from Elizabeth. The dining room seating arrangements are similar to a restaurant; you sit where you want: diners aren't ordered to sit next to others like at another homeless place. Joe (John) from Portugal plays the piano. And the Baptists share their church, which is used as part of the dining room. For years I used their showers and washing machine for free and didn't get beat up though everyone complained about my 45 minute showers using all the hot water. " "I was, however, a little worried about going to the WestCare Christmas lunch last week in case the cook kicked me you-know-where, or that her boyfriend, "Krusher" Karl, might be waiting for me outside the gate. " 13 March 2009 Work-for-the-dole at WestCare Rumour has it that the ratio of conscripted unpaid work-for-the-dole workers is increasing while that of unpaid volunteers is dropping. This is allegedly due to the harsh treatment of unpaid staff by Jayne, the cook, who has been promoted to controlling a larger section of WestCare, not just the kitchen. An alleged example of the rude treatment is that Jayne won't let John the Baptist enter the kitchen, even to refill a sugar or milk container for clients in "the yard". He's been there years and is the most inspiring unpaid volunteer in the place. He looks good - like some character out of the Bible. Volunteers should be cherished as the lifeblood of the organisation. But genuine volunteers have left due to bad treatment and are so few that one paid employee, Richard H, offers diners arriving for lunch a free meal if they'll serve the meals to others then eat later. It's fair enough for Jayne to stop certain people from entering the kitchen - for hygience reasons. But each person banned should be counselled as to how they can meet cleanliness requirements. It might be good helping them get a free disease check via a blood test at the local G.P. - like the Catholic doctor at the Brian Burdekin Clinic. Most restaurants require health certificates from employees to ensure none carry any form of Hepatitis transmittable via food. Likewise, Jayne should be offered counselling in human relations and, some say, a refresher course on how to cook food. Some think her too good for WestCare to lose and with forgiveness from all sides new friendships might be forged. 12 March 2009 Sunnydale Supported Residential Facility Sunnydale rooming house is a privately run business in Semaphore. The operators get a small government subsidy to ensure residents take their daily "medication". Most residents have spent long periods in Hillcrest and Glenside psychiatric hospitals. From the 1960's onward the government has been discharging patients into cheapo rooming houses like Sunnydale. It isn't a terrible place but many of the people there suffer serious illnesses as side-effects of psychiatric drugs. One illness is problems with swallowing and choking to death. Diane Hodgson, who lived at Sunnydale, died from choking. So did a man named Kelvin, who choked to death on chips at a Semaphore church Christmas party a couple of years ago. A man, aged about 45, whom I won't name, has been living at Sunnydale for five years. He verges on being a Savant and is quite popular though he suffers extreme loneliness, depression and incredible anxiety. He doesn't have swallowing problems, but recently he told a visitor that for the past five years someone has been stealing chocolate and magazines from his room. Up until last month he didn't know how to operate the lock on the door of his room. A recent visitor showed him how to do it. She said, "It took three-minutes." She also said, "People in these SRF's need more support." 11 March 2009 Reduced hours WestCare Baptist Community Services has reduced its "welfare" days to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. "Welfare" is where people get supermarket vouchers; help with getting housing, etc. "Reduced funding" is the declared reason for the reduced days. 11 March 2009 Betsy reserves her own table That energetic mother of seven, Betsy has reserved an entire table at the Chat and Chew free meal in Port Adelaide. She got her son-in-law to make her a professional "reserved" sign that she puts on her table for eight. 10 March 2009 Stuart C gets makeover Stuart C, the well known identity at WestCare has died his hair a straw colour that highlights his black eyebrows and partial beard. 10 March 2009 Glove Phobia? Jayne, the cook at WestCare insists everyone in the kitchen wears gloves. This is to prevent food poisoning and the spreading of infectious diseases. Jayne has been reputed to say: "I don't have to wear gloves if I wash my hands regularly." But one person comments: "To be honest I have never seen her wash her hands since I've been there." 10 March 2009 Blaming the driver The unpaid driver collects food from Food Bank. Food Bank sells food past the use-by date for a very low price. The driver wondered why he was signing for and picking up cool drinks, chocolate biscuits, lollies and chips while none of these were appearing on the menu at WestCare. Management wondered this, too. The items were ordered by Jayne, the cook. "I used to fill half the van with those bloody chips," the driver said. "The next day they were gone, disappeared." When asked where they ended up Jayne was reputed to have said, "How should I know? I didn't sign for them." 10 March 2009 Mike Newman from Baptist Community Services Head Office sends letter to Peter C Mike Newman threatened in a letter posted this last week an indefinite ban against Peter C for contributing to this website and legal action for defamation. Peter C responds below: "Got a letter 2day from Human Resources Dept Baptist Care SA threatening me with legal action if I continue contributing to this website. Should be interesting. I can prove e/thing Ive said on this site. An open invitation to Jayne H & Dave S. Take me to Court anytime U like. I would relish the chance to prove who is telling the truth." 7 march 2009 Lock-up mode at WestCare WestCare has hidden their cardboard recycling bin behind the fence so that when the gates are open they cover the bin from public view. But why would they want to do that? Rumour has it that the office filing cabinets are now locked at all times. A sign advises staff to keep them locked, always. Rumour has it that the cabinets contain incident reports of food disappearing from the kitchen. 7 March 2009 Bible study ban Rumour has it that a person attending the Baptist bible study group at WestCare has been banned for life for making an inappropriate remark. He wasn't banned for eternity thank God for that. it should be noted that this is an uncorroborated rumour. 6 March 2009 Still no word The following is repeated from 19 January, 2009 WestCare banned a man for twelve months last April. They would give a reason to him for the banning, but it appears the paid cook made a complaint against him. He asked in December, in writing, if he could attend the WestCare Christmas Day meal. The answer from David Wright was, no. He also wrote: "�the gentleman who issued the ban is no longer an employee of Baptist Care (SA) so it would be appropriate for David ****** the manager of the centre to respond. David is on leave until the 29th December 2009. I will pass on your request for an explanation to him on his return�" The banned man still hasn't got an explanation as to why he was kicked out for twelve-months. It appears the man was charged, judged and punished in the same manner of the medieval "Star Chambres". This is where the victims were not told they'd been charged, never called to give evidence in their defense. The trial happened without their knowledge. Originally posted 19 January 2009 6 March 2009 Continued waste at WestCare Rumour has it that WestCare continues to throw away donated baked goods from Vilis despite Fred's Van serving buns and cakes much older than the stuff donated to WestCare. 6 March 2009 The case of the disappearing mattresses Illoura Hostel, a Baptist nursing home gave some mattresses to WestCare homeless centre. Jayne H picked them up on Monday, 10 November, 2008. They never reached their destination, the homeless housing units at WestCare where the residents were sleeping on real stinkers. Two days later another Baptist nursing home, the Allan Tinsley Hostel at Morphett Vale, offered more mattresses. They included one newish ensemble, two good mattresses and another that looked like someone had died on it. They were allocated to Jayne, who isn't homeless, and put by the driver in the WestCare car park back of the kitchen. This was because the van was needed by another driver to pick up food. Jayne got sniffy about the mattresses being "dumped on the dirt" so in a huff left them outside overnight. That evening WestCare tenants spotted them in the dark and took them upstairs to their rooms returning with the grotty pissed and puked on mattresses they'd been using. Jayne created a real stink next morning upon seeing the filthy mattresses leaning against the fence? She demanded the tenant's rooms searched to find the mattresses, which were returned downstairs while the stink pot mattresses hauled back upstairs for the rent-paying tenants. 5 March 2009 The man who would be king Peter Bagdi has conceptualised the possibility of what he calls "compartmentalised self". This means creating an identical physical being as oneself that retains subservience to its creator. Peter says this would allow him another self that would go to work then bring home the money for Peter. "I'd give that other self the weekend off to do what he wants," Peter said, in the spirit of mental generosity that has marked his life. Peter now faces the problem of surmounting the technical difficulties. 5 March 2009 Chat and Chew going downhill "Seconds?" asked Damien. "No seconds," a waiter told our table. "No seconds" said Damien, next to me. "No seconds?" queried Vince, across the table. "No seconds," I said, resignedly. "There used to be seconds." "There used to be seconds," said Vince. The free fortnightly meal in Port Adelaide is going downhill. Second helpings were previously offered when there was surplus food, but not any longer. Many diners use medication that makes them ravenous. Clients could once enter the kitchen and talk to staff. This is no longer the case. Probably food hygiene and insurance rules. Clients now rarely talk to the kitchen staff. Tracey, the cook, resigned last month. She was a professional. Mark W and the woman ex-police officer were also terrific cooks. Hopefully, the new cook will turn out good. Got to give her a chance. One table last week was completely empty because numbers are dropping. Also, the vegetation in the courtyard that gave some privacy has mostly been trimmed away giving it the Yatala Exercise Yard look. A positive change is that the disabled toilets are now left unlocked. A negative is that the meal is rushed whereas before it was more leisurely. Another is that glasses put on the tables that appear unused at the end of the meal are put back into the cupboard despite diners eating and talking over them. Everything should be washed. 4 March 2009 Thoughts on corruption So-called corruption is often an attempt at justice. People volunteering with an organisation after previously being clients often receive less than when they did nothing. So stealing supplies is poetic justice. Homeless joints enforcing no theft policies should also ensure that volunteers are rewarded with training, equipment, food and respect and not treated with the abuse and contempt dished out to work-for-the-dole conscripts. 4 March 2009 The Meat Factory A "sleep study" patient at the Royal Adelaide Hospital said they were turfed out at 6:30am without breakfast, or a coffee from the jug in the four-bed ward. "Or even a bloody glass of water." They were given coffee and doughnut vouchers for the cafeteria that opened at 7:30am. But it was easier to simply go home than wait an hour. 4 March 2009 Notes on the WestCare 12-month man Readers of this site might wonder what a person would have had to do to get kicked out of WestCare for one-year. Must have been pretty bad. But the man himself appears not to know why and WestCare aren't saying why, either. To give an insight into this man's personality here are three recent incidents in this life. Last year he allowed a homeless man to stay at his rundown house for a few days. In response the guest stole camping equipment and a van and headed north to The Lands. The 12-month man was quite unhappy over the incident but made no great deal over the loss of his vehicle. Last month he lent sixty-dollars to a can collector who has cheerfully made it clear he has no intention in repaying the money. The 12-month man knows he was dudded but is making no big deal over it. He is often the last person to leave Gawler Courtyard after Fred's Van and guests have left. He digs into the rubbish bins removing the food then spreads it carefully on the pine chips for the birds. Yet WestCare banned him for one year on unspecified charges, refused to allow him to attend their Christmas lunch, promised to review the case then didn't. Baptist Community Services runs WestCare as part of their Christian mission. They also receive government funding for part of these services. Yet both Christian morality and government accountability seem sadly lacking in their treatment of this worthy older man. 2 March 2009 Getting a DNA swab The police officer phoned me at Fred's Van. Not a comfortable call; who wants to be heard talking to the police on the phone while standing in the "homeless" food queue? The officer reminded me of my appointment with him in an hour's time for a DNA swab. He'd phoned two days previously saying that if I didn't agree to it they'd do it by force. The problem began when I stood in a park off The Parade in Norwood, holding a sign protesting the Israeli army attack on Gaza. I lasted twenty-minutes until the police took my placard after snapping the pole in half. Anyway, I got to the police office at 7:50pm, rushed all the way from Fred's Van. The police building is on the corner of Bent Street and Grenfell Street. It's the place where they take people for interrogation. It isn't open to the public, generally. I pressed the buzzer then waited five-minutes until a police officer came out and said the swab fellow wasn't there and that I better hang around awhile at the front of the building. How vulnerable is that; homeless and hanging around a police station? Finally, the swab guy arrived and we went into a room. I opened my mouth and he rubbed a giant abrasive flat cotton-bud thing against the insides of my cheeks, about twenty times. He rubbed quite hard then put the swab in a bar-coded envelope. I felt degraded. My DNA code is now kept on file forever and will be routinely matched to the DNA terrorist suspect list. Later, a source in the South Australian police told me they wouldn't have bothered with the DNA swab, or a report to the Public Prosecutor, if I hadn't written a letter to Malcolm Hyde, the police commissioner, asking for my placard back. I also asked Malcolm if he would look at my future protest signs then say whether the South Australian Police would be offended or not - my aim was to avoid using slogans antagonistic to the police. But, my source implied, the letter annoyed Malcolm, or whoever reads his letters, and the DNA swab and report to the public prosecutor for possible prosecution was revenge or punishment. 26 February 2009 Food waste continues unabated A reliable source in WestCare says the trays of day-old pies and buns donated by Vilis are still ending up in WestCare�s rubbish bins, just like before. 26 February 2009 It is Rocket Science. - More help for Street To Home Did the turkeys fly the coop? The rumours are that WestCare in Millers' Court ordered either 12 or 24 Turkeys for its Christmas meal - depending on who is recounting the rumour. The Hilton Hotel also provided six cooked Turkeys for the Christmas lunch at WestCare and six for the Moore Street Day Centre lunch. This is fact. But the crowd was relatively small at WestCare on Christmas day and just two turkeys were consumed. One client said he expected turkey on the menu the following week, but it wasn't. "Where did the other turkeys disappear," asked the client. "Did they fly the coop?" 25 February 2009 More training for Stuart Rumour has it that Westcare employee, Stuart C, is undergoing more training. He proved his dedication over the past few years. One problem that needs ironing out is his tendency to provoke and enhance disputes rather than mediate and soothe. He allegedly determines which person in the dispute is closest to his faction then provokes the opposite party into over-reacting, usually verbally, but enough to get senior management to kick them out. It was alleged this was the method used on the older man, Stephen, when the cook, Jayne H, determined she wanted him out and as leader of the faction Stuart belongs to he felt incumbent on provoking Stephen, who was later kicked out for one-ear. Two similar incidents occurred recently with mixed levels of disaster. However, once Stuart, if the allegations are true, learns not to react or take sides, then he will become a fine WestCare employee brimming with forgiveness and insight. 25 February 2009 Smashing children Children were seen last month in Miller's Court pulling furniture and textiles from the CEDA building. They smashed the furniture and tossed everything into a rubbish truck. One observer wondered why the stuff wasn't being left for clients to take home. Another said it might be the termite problem. The building is infested with termites. You can feel the floor boards crunch as you walk on the carpet. The building will be demolished and replaced with a new one. 25 February 2009 Heat wave kills can collector Fernando "Frank" Mattioli, the Italian man who collected cans, plastic and metal scrap died last week from the heat. He lived in Room 6, 19 Hurtle Square in a sleazy rooming house across from Crazy Cottage on Carrington Street. He didn't have an air conditioner or even a fan. In winter he could be seen crossing the square with a sauce pan to the Moore Street soup van. He collected cans seven-days a week and pushed his supermarket shopping trolley a few times a week to the Scout Recycling joint at Payneham. He read the Bible and ate almost exclusively from the rubbish bins. "Even food that people had spat into," said a colleague. "He never went to a doctor, never washed, nothing." Fred was 83. His death marks a major passing in the Can Collector fraternity. Even the Celebrity Can Collector speaks of him with awe. His body is heading back to Italy, probably in a box. 23 February 2009 Updated 18 March 2009 Thanks to Renato Castello for supplying further information for this update. "I'm going to knock someone out." Rachel, in a good mood at the Jasmin Restaurant meal in Hindmarsh Square. The tough men backed away, none wanting to be the closest to Rachel. 23 February 2009 Laxative Power The Jasmin meal wasn't simply superb last night; it had other qualities. An old man pulled out a large plastic jar of powdered laxative, orange flavour, saying he had to use it or he wouldn't "go". "But," he said, "there is something in this food that makes me go and I don't have to use the laxative." 23 February 2009 Tony back outside Tony, who once camped in his red and black station wagon before he sold it to the Phil, is back outside. "It couldn't last. I saw it coming," he said, mysteriously, about the place he was living under a roof. He says he feels freer living outside and can do what he wants, which doesn't make the place he was living sound very nice. 23 February 2009 New driver at WestCare "Ricky," who washes dishes at WestCare, is now driving for them. He also drives the Teen Challenge truck. "Ricky" is one of those quiet achievers, the solid people who keep homeless joints ticking over. 23 February 2009 Common Ground closes its housing waiting list Common Ground has closed its waiting list for housing supposedly dedicated for Adelaide�s �homeless�. After years of government publicity saying much it would help the �homeless� it appears to date they have housed about 24 people. Their waiting list is about 150 with no new vacancies expected in the next twelve-months. It seems as much money was spent on state government spin doctors; the quarter million to pay New York Real Estate agent, Roseanne Haggerty, to visit Adelaide; the homeless component of Land Broker Cappo�s and the Listerine Kid�s (David Waterford) salaries; and all those junky homeless reports and surveys as for actually �housing the homeless� The winners turned out to be the bureaucrats. In a third world country this would be called graft and corruption. In South Australian it is called �helping the homeless�. 19 February 2009 The WestCare meat scam Lunch costs two-dollars at the Baptist Community Services' WestCare centre. This includes salad and freshly cooked meat. Clients unable or unwilling to pay the money can still have the soup and desert but the main course will then be substituted by a meat pie with sauce. One of my sources says WestCare limit the paid meals to 55 per day. Anyone arriving after this number has been sold are stuck with the free meal - which is still excellent, in my opinion. The reason the number is limited to 55 is that once meals are being served it is too late to begin cooking more meat. Fair enough. To cook more than this prior to the arrival of the guests might mean regular amounts aren't sold. This would waste money and WestCare isn't rolling in cash. But the odd thing is that more meat is ordered from the butcher than is actually cooked. This means that on many days a certain amount of the meat is left uncooked even when paying clients miss out, instead getting stuck with the meat pies. The surplus raw meat is left in the cool room. No problems, until the next day. Then more new meat is allocated for that meal because the uncooked meat from yesterday has somehow disappeared. And this isn't donated meat; it's been purchased by WestCare. This situation occurs, if you can believe my sources, because one or more people in the kitchen deliberately avoid cooking all the meat so they can take it home at the end of the day. The following has come from usually reliable sources. I can't guarantee if it is true or not, but can say that Baptist Community Services' continued response to allegations has been to discourage those suspected of supplying this information from attending their centre. 18 February 2009 Medical Diagnosis based on insurance and social status? A tertiary "homeless" older man living in a rooming house was granted an invalid pension based, largely, on his being chronically homeless and having arthritis. His GP tried to obtain an appointment for him last November at the the Rheumatology Unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. After three months some professor at the hospital wrote to the GP saying the man's arthritis wasn't bad enough to warrant been seen by a specialist. This diagnosis was done without the professor actually seeing the patient. It's hard to prove anything but the indication is that if the man had government subsidised private insurance, and wasn't classed as tertiary homeless or on a disability pension then a different diagnosis would have been made and subsequent treatment given. 18 February 2009 Lester's Dental Marathon Semaphore eccentric, Lester, says he's been on the Dental Hospital waiting list since 1969, awaiting surgery for a malformed jawbone. He says they kept delaying treatment until they lost record of his joining the waiting list. They say now he has to wait just six more years for the complex surgery. But by that time the locally famous Lester might be in his coffin. 17 February 2009 Rachel kicked out of West Lakes library Rachel, who goes to the Teen Challenge/Jasmin Restaurant meal on Thursdays, was kicked out of the West Lakes library. Her manner of speech offended the paid staff. There doesn't appear any form of appeal for a review of the suspension. I liked the way she talked to the staff when they told her to get out. Her rich, booming voice contrasted positively with their low mean dog growls. Rachel wasn't too bothered overall because at the free Jasmin meal on Thursday she was the cheerful centre of her new entourage. 17 February 2009 To be supported or not to be supported: that is the question While living outside Macha housing insisted I get a referral from my case manager before being allowed on their waiting list. Not having or wanting a "case manager" I asked Peter Haysman from Byron Place Community Centre to provide me with a referral. Six years later when Macha became Unity Housing Company they demanded another referral from my Case Manager. Peter saved the day, again. Common Ground wants even more. They ask a wide range of humiliating questions then require the applicant to sign away his or her privacy rights, allowing Common Ground to exchange information between your doctors, parole officers, family, Common Ground, drug counsellors, etc. Both these cases constitute a compulsory supported tenancy where bureaucrats assume partial control of your personal life. Any "homeless" person not complying simply doesn't get on the waiting list. It was a veteran welfare housing advocate who told me it was illegal for Unity to refuse housing to those not accepting "support" unless it had an exemption from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. Both Unity and Common Ground refuse to say whether they have an exemption, but said they didn't force people to accept a "supported tenancy". This appears a lie. I've phoned, emailed and written a dozen times to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, Common Ground, Community Housing Association of South Australia and Unity asking them to clarify the situation. All of them have expressed a serious disinterest. It appears Unity and Common Ground have broken a major welfare housing law. Yet they won't be answerable to any judicial or administrative body. This is because of an underlying contempt for people living outside. Human rights laws are enforced only when it suits those with power to enforce them. 16 February 2009 Call for independent inquiry Adelaide�s Celebrity Can Collector last night called for an independent inquiry into the operation of Baptist Community Services' WestCare homeless centre in Adelaide. He said the panel conducting the inquiry should be composed of people outside WestCare and that they should investigate the scams and corruption there. He made the call at the Jasmin Restaurant free meal in Hindmarsh Square. 13 February 2009 A bit of yelling A black-haired woman with a taped wrist yelled abuse at everyone at Fred's Van last night. Someone smashed a cup on the bricks. It's part of a long running feud between two indigenous groups. The elderly women working with Fred's Van became nervous as did that reliable old guy who once got hit by a derelict while handing out food. The bags ran out early. They contained Mint Kit Kats and I didn't get any because Robert from Teen Challenge was telling me how doctors kill people and say to patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that it is all in their heads. He distrusts doctors and says one-in-four deaths are from doctors prescribing the wrong drugs. Later, "R", who lives outside, gave me a Mint Kit Kat bar. We were outside the overflowing morgue where they're stacking the stiffs in a refrigerated shipping container. The Fred's Van rice and curry was actually excellent. 13 February 2009 Who emptied the Torrens Lake? A Fred's Van client said last night he thinks someone in the Adelaide City Council deliberately emptied the Torrens Lake two days ago, sending the muck into the Gulf of St Vincent. He said wasn't it a coincidence that the water had been condemned the previous day as too poisonous for rowing then suddenly the weir gates mysteriously open on the sly during the night and the lake becomes conveniently empty, ready to be refilled with scarce drinking water, or perhaps via a rush job to extend the pipe from the Glenelg sewerage treatment plant. It would have been politically too difficult for them to empty it officially so it was done on the sly. 13 February 2009 The financial counsellor laughs I mentioned to a welfare financial counsellor on Wednesday that there were only 59 homeless people in Adelaide CBD and North Adelaide parklands and wasn't that good. She laughed and laughed. "But David Cappo says there are just 59," I added, in my most sincere voice. Her laugh took a harsher tone. 13 February 2009 Praise for Salvation Army Reports are that the coffee and drinks served at the Salvation Army joint in Pirie Street are terrific. Someone said they're open from 9-11am Monday to Friday. Another person in another place said the Salvation Army keeps two large kitchen trucks on 24-hour stand-by to deal with emergencies. 13 February 2009 Missing Warren, Demi and Billy from Teen Challenge Yesterday Teen Challenge brought peaches and apples for people waiting for the Jasmin food. It was top quality fruit, not junk. Even so I miss the good old days when Billy, Demi and Warren ran the food van. They'd have cool drinks available as soon as the truck arrived. In winter they served good soup made by school kids. There were seats under the big tree but then the government removed them to discourage the poor from congregating. Now even disabled people have to stand up. 13 February 2009 Mister X's bleeding ulcer He wants to be known as "Mister X". He recently had a bowel cancer test - the standard three-sample test for men over 55. One sample indicated blood but the doctor said the symptoms resembled stomach bleeding rather than bowel cancer. Mister X's personality has changed from humorous to bitter and angry. He isn't dangerous but nevertheless the rough-and-tumble men in the homeless scene have begun creating space between him and themselves. A doctor will send a camera down his throat into his stomach. This is similar to the diagnostic treatment given to Angelo who "returned from the dead" after treatment. The camera identified a stomach infection that had Angelo in extreme pain and chronically vomiting for a year while he languished on the waiting list. The infection caused continuing damage to his stomach until doctors treated him with anti-biotics. Even so he waits on the stomach repair surgery waiting list. This means Mister X can expect hour-by-hour pain for another year until he receives treatment. Meanwhile, the symptoms are probably causing progressive damage to his intestinal tract. If Mister X had private health insurance he'd be treated within a week, possibly with a simple dose of the appropriate anti-biotics, then might not require surgical repair. This is how our dual medical system works; how Australia has become a duel society with some people sitting in expensive restaurants watching others outside eat standing up in the park at the Teen Challenge meal on Thursday nights. It makes you wonder what all that social inclusion talk is about. 12 February 2009 WestCare call police against critic The moral compass swung wildly last week at the Baptist Community Services Westcare centre near Whitmore Square when a yard manager allegedly called police on one man last week. WestCare suspected him of supplying information to this website, but told the police they thought he had drugs. Police arrived and grabbed the man and held him up against a wall. They searched him bodily in public. They also searched his bag. They found nothing so they left. The man yelled at the employee who had called the police so WestCare kicked him out for "verbal abuse". You have to wonder in what direction their moral compass is pointing. The man had gained the ire of Jayne, the cook when working as a volunteer in the clothing room. Jayne allegedly tried to take donated clothing allocated to welfare clients only. He told her she was a paid employee and to "get out" of the clothing room. The police search for drugs was apparently the culmination of a long vendetta with yet another WestCare employee acting as proxy. Ironically, the previous year he'd urged WestCare management to begin a formal investigation when a number of donated Christmas presents destined for disadvantaged children went missing from a locked room overnight. He said the room was accessible by a very, very low number of people: two, actually. Management made a half-hearted investigation then said all gifts were accounted for and the incident was forgotten. But the cook didn't forget. How does an unqualified cook who lacks the culinary nous to include vinegar with fish and chips wield such influence? Last winter Jayne was caught sneaking her father and his car into the back yard of the WestCare kitchen whereupon large quantities of food went missing. Management reprimanded her - this is on the record - then inexplicably promoted her to where she could kick out the volunteers she suspected of exposing her. They kicked another man out last week. One rumour says he committed the crime of preaching while serving meals while another says it was something he said in Bible study class. Two people say he's been banned for life and that he can't even return as a client to buy the two-dollar lunch - or to access government subsidised services. And then there is the case of the older man kicked out for 12-months last year for unspecified reasons. The cook simply had to say he made her feel uncomfortable and humiliated. Then there are the threats of violence made on her behalf towards critics. Jayne's next target, according to rumour, is a paid WestCare employee she wants sacked. But how does one part-time employee that can't cook cause such havoc while Baptist Community Services management sit back as if mesmerised? 7 February 2009 Home |
