Spiritus Anglican Women’s Hostel

From City North News:

IN THE 33 years it has been helping women avoid homelessness, the Spiritus Anglican Women’s Hostel has welcomed thousands of desperate clients off the street and into a warm bed.

The hostel provides crisis accommodation for up to three months for women at risk of becoming homeless, and manager Carol Birrell said the full house sign was always up.

``The demand has always been huge,’’ Mrs Birrell said.

``We would probably take anywhere between 15 and 20 telephone calls a day from women needing a place to stay. We cannot help all of them and we only house women who are unaccompanied by their partner and or children when they arrive here.

``Sadly we’re turning a lot of people away every day but we encourage them to ring up daily in case someone leaves.’’

The hostel provides shared accommodation including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, laundry and recreational areas for 14 women aged 18 and over.

Spiritus works closely with Foodbank and is part of the Quest Community Newspapers and Retail First campaign to collect 10 tonnes of food in the lead-up to Christmas.