June 15, 2025 • 43 mins
Today on the podcast I chat with co-founder of Orange Sky, Nick Marchesi. He and his friend Lucas Patchett decided to set up a laundry service for people experiencing homelessness and hardship through access to free laundry and shower services, as well as the opportunity for regular connection.
We provide a supportive, welcoming, and inclusive space for anyone experiencing loneliness or disconnection from the community, with a focus on improving hygiene, health, and quality of life.
Nic chats about how Orange Sky started. the amazing friends he has made and how the service has expanded.
I walked away from our chat with a new friend and an appreciation for the remarkable people out in our community who give of themself and their time and believe in the power of connection.
If you want to find out more about Orange Sky or want to donate time or financially,
The link is below.
Home - Orange Sky Australia | Homeless Charity | Positively Connecting Communities
A huge thank you to our sponsors for this episode, Nutricia.
This episode was created independently by the speakers, and the views expressed herein are those of the speakers, not of Nutricia. This content is intended for healthcare professionals. Medical professionals should rely on their own skill and assessment of individual patients.
Nutricia Healthcare Professionals | Nutricia Australia
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Appogia production. Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back into
Tenantus for Nurses. I suspect Woodbine here this season. I
am so excited to announce that the podcast as being
supported by Nutritia, which is a global leader in medical nutrition.
They understand the needs of nurses in the nutrition space
(00:27):
and for over one hundred and twenty five years have
provided products to support child health. Some of Nutrita's pediatric
brands include Neo Kate Junior for children who have food
allergies and app to Grow for those fussy eaters. And
those of us who have children know many kids who
go through the phases of definite fussiness. For more information
(00:49):
and resources, visit the nutritiona Pediatrics hub at nutritia dot
com dot au forward slash Pediatrics. I just want to
say a huge thank you to Nutritia. Their desire to
support nurses is truly appreciated, and they are allowing me
to continue this podcast so that we could all grow
as nurses. This season, we have some amazing speakers in
(01:10):
the pediatric space which I cannot wait to share with
you all. Hi, my name's beck Woodbine and welcome to
Tenderness for nurses.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm grateful for the person that I have the opportunity to.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Be, so I hit it and parked it for Nelly
four years.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We always have free will, We always get to choose.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We are autonomous. Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back
into tenderness for nurses. It's been a few weeks since
I actually recorded a podcast because, as you know, I
had to have major back surgery and I just want
to give a really big shout out to the nursing
staff and the medical staff at Brisbane Private and Spine Plus.
(01:52):
Their care for me was just remarkable and as a
nurse being in hospital it is a very different experience
and I have to say I was very great to
everyone who cared for me and took the time to
check on me. We are so blessed to have the
(02:13):
healthcare system we have here in Australia. It really hit
home for me when I was in there for actually
for a week. So thank you for everyone that reached
out and sent well meaning messages. I really appreciated it.
And I'm back on the wagon. So I have the
fabulous Nick and I'm going to say wrong now, Mikezi
smash it from Orange Sky with me today. I've been
(02:34):
following Orange Sky for quite a while and I have
some friends that have done volunteer work with these guys.
They provide laundry and showers for people that are having
issues with homelessness. It's such an amazing need that is
being fulfilled and one you just don't think about when
it comes to basic necessities. Interestingly enough, I saw you
(02:57):
guys when I was looking out of the hospital. Put
a smile on my face every day to see all
these people there and getting a system and help and
people chatting with them. So how about you give us
a little bit of an overview of what Orange Sky
does and what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah. So Orange Sky started in October twenty fourteenth, but
probably the story starts a little bit before that, where
Lucas and I went to school together and our school
had a food van that went out to that park
and fed people. And I can remember my mum taking
me to participate on that school food van one morning,
and at that point in time, I never met a
(03:38):
homeless person, and my perspective of life was that that
was something that I just didn't want to engage with,
and Mum actively gave back to the community and that
was a big part of her life, and Mom had
to bring me. And you know, that morning changed my
life because of a couple of reasons. One is I
met this guy by the name a Harry, and Harry
(04:00):
knew everything about me and my family, and you know,
he reminded me of my granddad or my uncle. But
at that point in time, Harry was sleeping rough and
I can remember going to school a day and just
thinking about Harry, because that morning opened my eyes to
a whole cohort of people that were in my own
backyard that I wasn't aware of. And I guess that
(04:22):
balance of having access to give back through the school van,
that amazing gift that my parents gave us in having
some perspective, Yeah, it was foundational an orange sky. But
two years later, Lucas and I were then more actively
volunteering on that school food van. We both then finished
high school. Lucas was at the top of the class,
(04:44):
I was at the bottom of the class. And then
Lucas came back from traveling overseas and we caught up
in a cafe. We were talking about ideas, and the
idea of this mobile laundry had come up again a
very selfish thing to continue what we enjoyed doing, which
was giving back to the community. So I had this
idea of building a free mobile laundry. New you needed
(05:05):
some serious washing machines, so we jumped on Google and
we started looking up serious washing machines and this company
comes up in Brisbane that sells washing machines. So we
sent some emails and convinced this company to a meeting.
And the night prior I came home from work, I
was working in a different job and I said, you know, mom, Dad,
Lucas and I are going to start a free mobile laundry.
(05:26):
And my mum looked up and she said, how about
you start washing your own clothes. So we knew very
little about starting a charity, but we had this vision
of building this van. So the company told us that
no one would ever wash and drive their clothes in
a park and you never get washing machines to work
in a van. But we sort of invited them to
be a part of this crazy idea and we said,
(05:48):
you know, well, if it does work, how cool would
it be. So you know, they gave us some washing machines.
We took the van out to their workshop, It was
a bit of a standoff because they were like, no, no,
we're not having any part of building this.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
This is your thing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So we took the van and the washing machines back
to our garage and built our first van Sudsey and
took that van outside our old school food van in
that park and Wickham Street and Orange Sky was born.
Why the name so Orange Sky's song by a British
singer songwriter called Alexi Murdock, and the song talks about
(06:22):
everyone being under an orange sky and helping out your
brothers and sisters and you know, the same kitchen table
that I told my parents about the starting this mobile
laundry was the founding place of Orange Sky. And I
were debating it was either a Brisbane laundry van or
mobile washing van, or why don't we just call it
Orange Sky? And if it was called Brisbane laundry van
(06:42):
right now, it'd be a bit awkward because we're a
bit far from Brisbane and a lot of our spots.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah. Absolutely. I was going through your website and looking
at different things, and you're trying to develop further initiatives.
Obviously you're seeing gaps and one of them was women
for women. How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, so I think maybe coming back to our missions
is always important. So our mission at Orange s Guy
is to positively connect communities, and that wasn't our mission
we started with. Our first mission statement was to improve
the hygiene standards of the homeless. And so we had
that first van alongside our old school food van. We
set the van up that first morning in October twenty fourteen.
(07:24):
You know, we started stealing water from the council. We
convinced this guy up and I said, hey, I know
this sounds a bit crazy, but I can you know,
wash and drayer clothes over there. And a few minutes
later he walked over with potentially his only possessions in
his life, and he introduced himself. His name was Jordan,
and we put Jordan's washing in that left washing machine
and we pressed the top button and the bottom button
(07:45):
and there was a massive bang, and we're like, oh,
I don't know if washing machines did to make that sound.
Caught up the washing machine company and they told us
we'd broken both the washing machines. So we apologized to Jordan.
We went back out to the workshop. You know, sorry,
this really angry laundry technician. We broke both the machines.
They gave us some new ones. Out the next morning
(08:06):
there was Jordan. Jordan trusted us with his only possessions.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
We put it in the van and the van broke again.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
But what we realized that morning is that Orange Sky
was something that really needed to work, because we'd let
Jordan down and it was sort of two days and
he was keen to trust these two idiots to wash
and dry his clothes. So we went out the third morning,
made some few changes to the van, and we put
Jordan's washing in and the van worked perfectly, and we
sort of reached that finish line to what we thought
(08:35):
was Orange Sky's mission. We were improving hygiene, we had
the van going. But what we realized and what we
never thought about, is like, what do we do now?
Because Jordan was his only possessions in his life were
trapped in our van and we were tethered to the
park because we were stealing water, and so I was like, well,
what should we do? And it was really simple. We
(08:55):
just had a conversation, and that conversation, without a doubt,
changed my life and change the trajectory of Orange Sky
because we realized that we had this really sacred special
opportunity to connect with the people, so we rewrote our
mission to positively connecting communities and Orange Skuy's grown a
lot in the last ten years and it's overwhelming to
(09:17):
see how much Orange Skuy can impact communities that don't
have access to what we provide. But now that Orange
Sky is in a privileged position to be able to
have that trust of the friends and the volunteers and
the donors and the broader community, we're really always looking
at how can Orange Sky help more people? And that's
where the women's only shift came from, is that homelessness
(09:40):
in Australia. You know, fifty six percent a male, forty
four percent of female from the last census, and we
know that the census isn't perfect, but a place like
we can park in Brisbane isn't a safe place for
a vulnerable female to be accessing our service. And a
lot of Orange Skuy services operate in parks in very rough,
(10:00):
sleeping communities, and what we acknowledged is that Orange Sky
could be helped being women in a more tailored and
appropriate service delivery model, and that's where the idea of
running women's only shifts operate, so you know, that's a
newer thing to obscud and something that we're really proud of,
but also you know, humbled that that is required, and
(10:21):
also you know, looking at services that aren't even on
our website to provide a really safe and dignified way
for people to access our service.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It really piqued my interest because the fastest growing demographic
is older women. The homelessness it must be terrifying being
a female and vulnerable, and it really makes me feel
sick that these women are sleeping in cars or sleeping
rough because they've just got nowhere else to go. I
feel the same way for men, but I think women
(10:52):
are so vulnerable, but I think everyone is in those situations,
aren't they.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
One of the biggest things I've learned in the last
ten years is that my stereotype about homelessness was completely
wrong and there are so many stereotypes and stigmas around homelessness.
In Australia, one and two hundred people are classified as
homeless and only six percent of that population are sleeping rough.
We see so many people who work multiple jobs who
(11:19):
are sleeping in their cars, and to realize the incredible
challenge it is to be a parent and be homeless.
Just blows my mind. And in particular women's space. If
you have teenage children and those children aren't female, you're
not able to go to some shelters because you know,
(11:39):
males aren't allowed at those those shelters. So you know,
if I think about my mum, she was in a
vulnerable spot. The first priority for her is looking after me,
and so that shelter is foregone by that, whether it
be you can't have you children or you can't have
certain people. And I've got a dog, Gambino, and in
most shelters you're not allowed pets and that so there
(12:01):
is access potentially to shelter, and then that might be
at for some people, but also acknowledging that we have
our different needs and desires. Some people want to be
in extroverted, vibrant communities, some people want to be by themselves.
And how do we actually tailor the services that are
available to what the end user wants And that's a
(12:21):
big way the sector needs to improve.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
At the end of last year, there was a young
guy sleeping rough down at the park and I was
quite concerned. Couldn't see him moving or breathing. So I
went and checked on him, and a couple of us
got him some food and blankets and pillow and when
he was able to talk, you know, I had a
bit of a chat with him. And he was there
for a few days, and saw him around a couple
of times, and you know, he went out of his
(12:46):
way to say thank you to me. And I haven't
seen him since, but he was telling me he had
a job, he was in a terrible accident, became addicted
to pain medications and then his life spiraled and he
moved up to Queensland. And it just breaks your heart,
but a little bit, doesn't it mean it wasn't through
(13:08):
any fault of his own really that he ended up
in this position. And what do they say, We're two
paychecks away from being homeless most Australians. I mean, that's
scary stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, absolutely, And my partner always talks about this quote.
We get sick alone and we heal together and the
power of a community. I know, some of the toughest
times in my life, my friends or family have rallied
around me. Life is not linear, and life can change
in a blink of an eye. You know, you injure yourself,
you lose your job, and then you're in a position
(13:40):
where maybe you're too a shamed to ask your support network.
So then this spiraling effect happens where you might run
away and then your community is completely disappears. So that's
why we are so passionate about that mission of positively
connecting communities. And you know, we're not naive enough to
think that we are substituting family or deep relational connections,
(14:04):
but what we are provide is consistent, genuine friendship to people.
And to see that grow over the last ten years
has been tremendous. Seeing friends who are in a tough
position come together and help each other, or to see
volunteers who also go through our life's trials and tribulations
come together and rally is really beautiful. And I'm constantly
(14:26):
reminded that the community that Orange s Guy helps. We
might be able to label people like a volunteer or
a don or a friend, but most of the time
it's actually impossible to because we have humans that are
complex but very simple come together and connect. And I
guess that's the beauty is that's where the magic happens.
Humans want connection. That's imperative to our well being.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That's one of the things in our saying with Alzheimer's
is that if you don't have that community and feeling
of belonging, that can actually exacerbate dementia other autoimmune conditions.
It's really quite fascinating what loneliness can do. You would
have seen huge growth in this space since covid.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, since Orange Guys started, we've grown about twenty
five percent each year because of the need and because
of yeah, I guess one one of the factors is need,
but also our growth. So you know now Orange Skuy's
got sixty eight services in forty seven locations in Australia
and six services and five locations over in our to
Row and New Zealand. Those vans go out over four
(15:29):
hundred and fifty times a week alongside service providers like
our old school food vans. So we've added a lot
of services and that's sort of fueled our growth. But
also here in Brisbane we're always adding new shifts, whether
that be a women's only shift taking our vans to
a motel to help people who are an emergency accommodation
have access to it, or a big part of Orange
(15:50):
Skuy's growth at the moment is into remote communities, first
nations communities providing basic health hardware, but also you know,
we're looking at having laundry and schools at the moment
because we know a big barrier to people having access
to good quality education and safe community is also laundry.
So you know, a lot of the graphs at Orange
Skuy just show a trend that is always going up,
(16:11):
and COVID was a big part of that. We had
to make a really tough decision at the peak of
COVID to press pause on a lot of our services
because of the frameworks that we're making decisions, and that
was only for a couple of week period that we
had all of our services shut down, and that was
an incredibly tough decision, knowing that you know, people potentially
only opportunity to talk to someone in a week was
(16:33):
an Orange Skuy shift. And then knowing that this bright
orange van wasn't going to be in a park and
wasn't going to be providing people who were already disconnected
and vulnerable and marginalized. They were even further disconnected, vulnerable
and marginalized through the pandemic, and so there was a
significant spike in our growth, going from you know, turning
(16:53):
those shifts off to back on. But I think what
the pandemic did is it reminded people of the importance
of hygiene and human connection. And we wouldn't wish that
upon anyone. But it's been really interesting that conversation since
where people being like, you know, it was really hard
not going and connecting with my community. Maybe the most
lonely they've been has been through the pandemic, and now
(17:16):
there is this relational point where they say, oh fuck,
I couldn't imagine what it's like, you know, living on
the streets and losing that community.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
In your experience, what is the number one cause of
homelessness in our country.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I don't think there's one cause. I think that there
is one or two events that happen that then send
people on a trajectory very quickly in finding themselves in
a tough spot. Jordan, our first of a friend, you know,
we had these few interactions with, was our first ever wash.
He trusted us, he came and went. But then we
(17:51):
sort of started seeing all these other people use our service.
And we've told Jordan's story for ten years, but we
actually lost track of Jordan. You know, we heard along
the grapevine that Jordan might have access ourselves on the
Gold Coast and last year we got in touch with
Jordan and that was an incredibly special moment and we're
(18:12):
still in touch with Jordan. And Jordan went to school,
had a loving and incredibly supportive family, had a job
at Macquarie Bank working on the IT desk, and was
probably on the limit of his relationship with alcohol, but
that was in Australian context, probably a normal social all point.
And then Jordan's father passed away and his first night
(18:35):
of being homeless was a day after his dad's funeral,
and that then very quickly compounded and escalated. And I
think that I always remind myself that if you think
about our stereotypes of homelessness, Jordan had a very high
paying job, he's incredibly intelligent, incredibly loving, has an amazing
supportive family, but then in a process of a couple
(18:57):
of years, found himself accessing our services. So there is
you know, over one hundred and thirty Jordan's out there.
There's for every star around. You know, a mother who
comes home one day and is completely locked out of
their home and have no access to financial bank accounts
and those sorts of things, or is fleeing violence and
(19:20):
it might be the most costly thing you ever do,
but your safety is paramount. So I guess, yeah, there's
no one thing that we see. I think on the
back end, what we see is that everyone is looking
for a sense of human connection, dignity, and just to
be treated as a fellow human. And I think that's
the common thing we see. Is like the situation that
(19:41):
got someone to be around an Orange sky van is
different for everyone, but the commonality is that they're there
to hang out and connect.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
A few years ago, which is one of the reasons
I started the podcast, I went through a really rough
patch and had severe depression. Always been fine, and when
I reflect on that now, and I'm very grateful at
that stage. I'd stop drinking before then because drinking, my
drinking was getting out of control. If I hadn't have
(20:09):
had the loving support of my husband and my kids
and my family, was quite obvious to me that I
could have ended up in that position. It can happen
to anybody. That's why I think kindness is so imperative,
because you don't know what anyone's going through. Everyone's got
a story. People not my choice want to be on
the streets, and often it might be safer to be
(20:30):
on the street than it is to be at home.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Absolutely, and Orange Sky's now got over four thousand volunteers,
and that hardship and loneliness is also present in that community.
And you know, we have an extraordinary volunteer, Robin in Hobart,
who was one of our first volunteers in Hobart. You know,
she joined Orange Sky in sort of that next act
of her life in a sense that she'd retired and
(20:54):
was looking at giving back to the community. And Robin's
world very quickly changed in a period of time where
her son in law and her husband passed away. Robin
talked about how hard it was being disconnected from her
community and those challenges that she was facing through to grief,
but the friends at Orange Sky and having an opportunity
(21:15):
to go and give back to the community was so
significant in her life. And I think that's the thing
that I'm always reminded by is that the people that
come to Orange Sky all have their own hardships. We
also all have our own successes and highs and the
beauty of the community is that we're on that journey
together for that moment, and that might be for one
(21:35):
load of washing which takes an hour for one person,
and that might be their only interaction with Orange Sky,
or it might be one whole shift every week for
ten years that a volunteer has been going on or
a friend's been going to. That sort of space and
moment is really special and valued.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
If your friends come in to use the laundry services,
if you perceive they've got a health issue or they're
going through a psychosis, how do you guys handle that?
Is there other services it's like one bridge that you
might refer them to, or how do you go about that?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, So the core to that mission of positively connecting
communities is realizing that partnerships are integrals. So at every
location that we operate, we're working with others service providers
like one Bridge or street Side Medics New South Wales
and Victoria or the Frio Street Doctor or in Wa
or it might be a clinician that's inside a homelessness
hub that we're operating outside of. So you know, we
(22:31):
talk about our volunteers aren't trying to preach, teach or
fix anything. They're there to provide friendship and connection, but
their success is actually to be able to get someone
a service that they maybe weren't aware of or comfortable
to get to the past. And was talking to Lucas
about a shift out in Redcliffe the other week where
he was just talking to a friend who was worried
(22:53):
about an upcoming operation and their health literacy wasn't great,
you know, Lucas was able to connect them with another
service provider who then was able to call them and
talk to them about getting to their appointments on time.
And of that friendship is something that you probably had
the same journey of being like I'm about to go
in for this operation and friends being let me drop you.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
And that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And I think that that's actually the beauty of that
idea that we can be better through that sense of community.
And unfortunately, the people who need that most are in
the community that we service, and there is a big
gap of the people that are rallying behind and around them.
But I think if we can collaborate more and provide
(23:33):
access to those services is where we need to really focus.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Clean Slate Clinic has collaborated with one Bridge for those
people that have addiction issues, and I just thought, isn't
that just the best service to do? Those two working together.
When I heard that, I was so delighted because they're
both amazing services as well me being medical. That's where
I sort of lean towards how you can help people.
(23:58):
If someone wants to volunteer, how do they go about it?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yep, So you don't need to be a washing expert
or a shower kind of sir. We do a lot
of healthcare professionals that volunteer with Orange Sky, a lot
of retired nurses and doctors, and they're usually the ones
that are like in there with like the best cleaning
procedure and very diligent, but also the most amazing connectors.
And for some people who leave a very care based industry,
(24:27):
who retire for their next chapter, you naturally do lose
this opportunity to give back, and that can be quite scary.
And so the cool thing about volunteering is that you
can fulfill that experience of caring, and I think that
that's why we attract so many amazing people. So yeah,
we always encourage people to jump onto our website orange
(24:49):
Sky dot org dot au. You can see all the
locations that we operate and the services that we're needing volunteers,
but also, you know, the great thing about our country
is that we see a problem and we want to
do something about it. And there's so many ways to
give back in a wather, be through volunteering as a
practicing nurse with one bridge, or whether it be actually
(25:11):
saying I don't want to be practicing, I just want
to come and chat to people and volunteer. I think
that's the cool thing is that there's so many ways
to give back to the community.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I would assume running Orange Sky with Lucas there are
things that would really impact you. How do you guys
cope with that?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
You know, I think there's a mixture. One of our
first employees who was an organizational psychologist, Emily, she taught
us something very important.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Early on.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
We used to use this idea around positive and genuine,
non judgmental relationships, and you know, we train our volunteers
in that and train them in the f word, use
the word friend. And then it was that second bit,
and you know, Emily came to us and said, you know, actually,
I think by Orange Sky labeling everything as positive and
(25:59):
non judgmental, you're actually excluding this very important part of life,
which is the darkness, and not everything in life is positive.
So if you actually just acknowledge that you're providing space
to really see people in that moment, and that was
an extraordinary insight and shaped the trajectory of Orange Sky.
(26:21):
So we deeply acknowledge that challenges a part of our community,
and challenge is probably the reason why people have come
to Orange Sky. They could be potentially the toughest time
of their life. We're also trying to get washing machines
to work in a vent. We're also trying to fundraise,
you know, we're also trying to deal with people that
are innately complex, and you know, we all have our
own challenges. So I think, you know, just acknowledging that
(26:44):
the stuff we're doing is challenging, I think then actually
gives us a space to then want to be able
to get support or help. Orange Skuys have got an
extraordinary team of staff and volunteers that deliver our servers
and Lucas and I are incredibly blessed that we've got
so many people around us that are supporting, you know,
whether that be our board, or our families or our friends.
(27:06):
So I think there's a couple pass thing. One is
acknowledging that, you know, the stuff that we're doing isn't easy,
but we enjoy the challenge and acknowledging that the challenge
is there and to be able to name it and
see it. The second is that you know, we're surrounded
by amazing people, you know, as we preach it Orange
Sky the power of community. We're very lucky with their community.
And I think also, you know, we have really beautiful friendship.
(27:30):
You know, Lucas now leads and runs Orange Sky is
our CEO and does an extraordinary job at that and
it's still the smartest guy I know. And you know,
I'm able to build a few things. And you know,
our complementary friendship is really important with your volunteers.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
If they chat to someone one of their friends that
come into user services and you know what is shared
with them is a little bit traumatizing. How do you
care for the volunteers?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Yeah, so a couple of different ways. One is we
really support our well. Our volunteers are work, so there's
no difference between being a volunteer and a worker. From
a legislative process, so our volunteers are treated as workers
and we take their safety incredibly seriously. You know, we
support our volunteers with training and onboarding around how to
(28:20):
have some of those difficult conversations, how to refer to
service providers. We also support our volunteers in a EAP
program where they can have access to counselors to debrief
and connect, but also acknowledging that we can always do
more in that space. So, you know, I'm proud of
what ourrange Guide provides for our volunteers and our community
(28:41):
at the moment, but I'm always interested in, you know,
how can we take that experience to the next level.
And that's something that we're always looking at as an organization.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
People find homelessness really confronting. How should people treat or
address someone that's homeless? So I always say hello and
just go hey, how are you going? When I'm in
the States with my daughter, I probably spend more money
buying coffee for everyone else them myself, because the homelessness
there is out of control. It's tragic. But here in
(29:11):
a strait it is something we find very confronting us like, oh,
you know, I don't want to see that. How do
we change that dialogue? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I think a couple things that one is acknowledging.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
It's hard.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
And the great thing about Orange Sky is that we
build very deep, almost immediate relationships because we have this
side thing which is, hey, do you have some washing
put in the machine, and then the conversation takes place.
So we are going into people's living rooms or homes,
whether that be a park or a drop in center,
(29:46):
that's their space. So we are going into a very
sacred space, and we are providing something that is very intimate,
which is laundry and showers. So we are fortunate that
we are able to form a connection quite quickly. But
I think, you know, for engaging with people out there
in the community when you're not at an Orange Sky
s us. You know, we love the F word, which
(30:07):
is friends. It's something that's incredibly respectful and inviting to
acknowledge someone as that and if you don't know their name,
and I think starting a conversation and you know, coming
back to not trying to fix anything or teach anything
or tell anything.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
It's just to check in.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
And you know, I think there's so many things that
we do with our own friends that has just applied
to that cohort of people. It may be introducing yourself
finding commonality. You know, one of my favorite conversation starters
is remembering something about a previous conversation. Hey, John, how
good was it that sporting team one? Hey Michelle, did
you see that tram arrived on time? You know, those
(30:46):
really simple things that you do with with your normal,
everyday friends, I think is so important. So I'm always
thinking about the weather and the impacts that the community has,
and I always find myself, you know, if there's a
big storm and I'm falling asleep hearing the rain on
a roof, thinking, you know, I hope friends out there
(31:08):
are okay, but actually knowing there's not much I can
do right now. But the next day you can open
that conversation with you know, how are you doing after
last night?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And I think that is a really simple way to
show that you care, because you're not sugarcoating. It's just
providing a little bit of space to acknowledge, like, hey,
I was thinking about you last night because that was
a really hectic storm. And the person might be like, oh,
a great sleep I was tucked away in here, or
some might be like, you know what it was?
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Shit? Yeah, and thanks for seeing that that sucked. When
I first started with my business, I used to do
that same thing. I'd have a sheet of paper and
I'd be writing down order's name, spouse's name, has a dog.
And it's quite interesting how it builds a raport so
fast because you've taken the time to actually remember something
(31:55):
about them, and it makes them feel worthy and valuable
that they meant enough to you that you remembered something.
I'm sure people that are doing it tough really love
it that someone is actually thinking about them, just beyond
their situation. And I really struggle that homelessness is growing
so rapidly in our country, and when we are just
(32:18):
so blessed, and with my trips to the States where
my daughter lives when she first went over there before COVID,
from then to now, you know, the different places we've
been to and the huge demographic growth of people sleeping
rough has blown us away. And you know, I just
don't want Australia to be like that. We meant to
(32:39):
look after each other, and sometimes I think, is it happening?
Means people like you doing the right thing, But you
know what can the rest of us do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:47):
I think it's easy to get overwhelmed sometimes. But also
you know, I was in Sydney last week and I
was out for a run near Circular Key and had
this great run and then I was running down the
street and there's this bright orange van. You know, there's
volunteers sitting out and they're having an awesome chat and
you know, I go and introduce myself. They have no
idea who I am, and you know, hey, I'm near like,
(33:08):
oh God, do you want to wash your clothes? And
I'm like, nah, I'm just here to say, you know,
thanks for what you do. And so, you know, I
think kindness is in so many pockets. I think sometimes
we forget about the extraordinary people that you know, go
and do good. But I was just thinking about a
very good friend and mentor to us at Orange Sky
(33:29):
Camogra talked about in one of our first stories. It's
knowing that someone cares, and it's all about hope. And
you know, I think we can get more sophisticated in
policies and procedures and technology around you know, engaging with
people and whatnot. But I think it in a simplest form,
if you care, then all of that other stuff falls
into place. And if that means that you just care
(33:51):
or you're passionate about something, then I think that's going
to flow onto your relationships. Whereas like, if you care
deeply about nature and then you're talking to someone about nature,
that'll probably be the thing you talk about next time.
You actually don't need those prompts around asking questions about
people's interests and hobbies. But I sometimes get overwhelmed with
being like, oh fuck, I is this assignment sheet on someone.
(34:13):
But if you just start a genuine conversation and you care,
all of that mesh of tissue of relationship will form,
and then you might find this pattern where you know,
you both realize that you grew up in the same area,
or that you both like a certain artist, or you know,
like you could never predict that. And I think that's
(34:34):
the beauty of orange sky is like, you know, we
used to say, let's get one volunteer from this demographic
and one volunteer from this demographic, and then let's get
you know, let's put them on that shift because they
might be safer. And then you realize that you know,
a volunteer that you never thought would be appropriate for
a shift or would get on with another volunteer, they
become best friends, you know, and it's like, why is
(34:56):
a eighteen year old become best friends with the ninety
six year old who's volunteering, and why do they now
drive to shift together? And you can ever predict some
of these things. You know, both their families grew up
in a similar area and now they're hanging out outside
of Orange Sky and helping each other at the library
and this sort of stuff. So yeah, I think it
can get overwhelming seeing the rates of loneliness and isolation
(35:20):
and polarization grow in the world, and we shouldn't not
acknowledge that. But I also think that it's not too hard,
Like we know the fix. It's really basic. It's connecting
with people, it's treating people well. And I think that
that like we're not having to find a cure. This
is something that is really preventable.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And people know when you're being genuine you know, they
can tell when you're genuinely interested in them and what
they have to say, you know. So I mean, do
you find with your volunteers that they're looking for something
more or they really want to give back to the community,
Like is there a particular recipe around what your volunteer
(36:05):
is are looking for No.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It's the same as like why the friends rock up there? Right,
Like there's you know some volunteers that might have more
time they registered a volunteer. You know, one of my
favorite stories is there was an elderly volunteer who in
the early days signed up. I was out and ship
with them, and this volunteer like pulled me aside and
was like, this is the laziest volunteering I've ever seen.
(36:28):
And they're like, you know, you just set the van up,
you plug it in, You're just sitting around talking. What
an absolute joke. And I was like thinking to myself,
like pretty much all we do is like, you know,
like how did we get that wrong? But for that person,
you know, they're volunteering was painting a wall or building
a fence or reading someone a book, and Orange Skuy
just wasn't the right outlet for them to volunteer. And
that's totally fine. I actually feel bad that Orange Sky,
(36:50):
you know, didn't clearly articulate what we were doing. But
I think that's the great thing is, you know, some
volunteers really love setting the van up and putting the
washing in and cleaning after a shower where some volunteers
have like never touched, you know, anything to do with
the van. They just rock up and they sit on
a chair and they hang out with people, and I
think that that's the cool thing. But I think, you know,
(37:11):
there's so many ways to connect and give back, which
is sort of what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Do you have lots of younger people volunteering.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
We've got a whole Like our youngest volunteer is eighteen,
and you know, our oldest volunteers is ninety seven. So
you know, our most common age used to be twenty
four and fifty five. But you know, so many different
different reasons people volunteer, and that can change over time.
You know, for Robin in Hobart, she wanted to join,
she had a bit more time, and she wanted to
(37:40):
give back. But now she volunteers because that's her community
and that's her human connection and she couldn't see a
world without having a part of Orange Sky in it.
Whereas for some volunteers, you know, they might move to
a new area and not have any deep friends or
community in the area. They volunteer, form some friends and
(38:02):
their job might change and so then they don't volunteer
with Orange Sky. But you know, like it was moving
around all these sorts of things. You know, we have
volunteers that start when they're on paternity or maternity leave. Like,
there's so many different reasons why why people volunteer?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Do you have to be eighteen to volunteer? You can't
be younger? Or can you do it with a family member?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah, so we made the call, which is a tough
call because, like I said, it was a big impact
on my life. But yeah, to volunteer at orange skuy
you have to be eighteen. But also all of orange
Sky shifts at public, So if a young person did
want to see an Orange Sky service, you know they could.
They're all in public locations where they're most welcome to
pop down and have a look.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
What would be the biggest life lesson that you have
learned through running setting up Orange Sky?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, it's like, you know, one of the things I'm
incredibly thankful for is Orange Sky's taught me so much.
And so it's hard to say one thing, but I think,
you know, the first thing that comes to mind is
the idea of this quote is dysfunction is the difference
between what you know and what you apply, and I think,
(39:14):
you know, we're always especially in this day and age,
like it's very easy to access knowledge or to know
that to be healthier we need to exercise, or to
know that volunteering is a good thing, so we should volunteer.
But then the gap being around well, you know, we
say we're busy or you know, something comes up, and
so if you apply it to Orange Sky's context, we
(39:34):
knew that people didn't have access to laundry, and you know,
we knew that there were ways to give back to
the community and charities and that sort of thing. But
the only difference to to why Orange Sky might have
worked is that we just did something about it and
now you know, Orange Sky is what it is today.
But I think acknowledging that we're all dysfunctional to some
(39:56):
level and that's a part of life. But I think,
you know, the biggest lesson is thinking about how do
we when we know something do something about it and
then what the learning from that? And I think, you know,
that's something that I really try and take into to
my life is thinking about, you know, what is something
that I know I should be doing that I'm not doing,
and then just give it a bit of energy and
(40:17):
then see what happens.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Thank you so much for coming in today. I have
been looking forward to this chat for a long time.
I actually was on there last night looking about more
of the volunteering side of things. So, guys, I will
put up all the information about Orange Sky in the
show notes so that if you decide do you want
to look into it a bit further, or you want
(40:40):
to volunteer or go on the board or all that
information will be there. I know you are super busy,
and I really appreciate you coming in and chatting about
the amazing work you do, so thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Thank you. And it's probably a bit of hing pong,
but I always like reminding people that you actually don't
need an Orange Sky service to care or give back.
And the majority of people probably listening, if you've made
it this far, career in healthcare is innately caring. It's
very easy to get overwhelmed with the business or the
bureaucracy or the process, but reminding yourself that you can
(41:16):
deliver that hope and care, and you are delivering that
hope and care each and every day, and it's just
those little tweaks around what Orange Sky is doing is
no different to what a nurse is doing in seeing
someone and potentially the toughest time of their life, whether
the most scared and confused and vulnerable. One of our
volunteers here in Brisbane was a head of a pediatric
(41:37):
ICU for thirty or forty years or whatever, and I
sort of said to them, like, you know, what's the
biggest lesson that you learned in that whole time? And
they said, you know, the first thing that I teach
every one of our team in ICU is before we
even look at the patient or the young person is
we ask the parents, you know, what's the child's name
(41:58):
and why did you call them that? And in that
moment that was the most profound thing because we could
tell so much about their health, literacy, and their upbringing
and their values just by asking them their name. And
I was like, that's all we do at Orange guys,
we say hey, friend, what's your name? You know, and
it's just the simple ast thing that you know, they're
probably working in incredibly time precious and a bit of
(42:21):
a deviation at the end of him we're coming into land,
but I think just really want to acknowledge the extraordinary
impact that you know your audience and you you listening
is having on the communion.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Thank you for your service. Oh, thank you so much
for coming in. And like I say to people, kindness
cost you nothing, and it's okay to acknowledge someone. I
think it's worse when you walk past someone the's homeless
and try to pretend they're not there. You know, give
them a smile as if they want a coffee. That's
my go to just show some kindness. And I think
(42:52):
the world would be a better place this season. I
am so excited to announce it. The podcast is being
supported by Nutritia, which is a global leader in medical nutrition.
They understand the needs of nurses in the nutrition space
and for over one hundred and twenty five years have
provided products to support child health. Some of Nutrita's pediatric
(43:15):
brands include Neo Kate Junior for children who have food allergies,
and apt to Grow for those fussy eaters. And those
of us who have children know many kids who go
through the phases of definite fussiness. For more information and resources,
visit the Nutrita Pediatrics Hub at nutritia dot com dot
au forward slash pediatrics. I just want to say a
(43:38):
huge thank you to Nutritia. Their desire to support nurses
is truly appreciated and they are allowing me to continue
this podcast so that we can all grow as nurses.
Appogia production. Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back into
Tenantus for Nurses. I suspect Woodbine here this season. I
am so excited to announce that the podcast as being
supported by Nutritia, which is a global leader in medical nutrition.
They understand the needs of nurses in the nutrition space
(00:27):
and for over one hundred and twenty five years have
provided products to support child health. Some of Nutrita's pediatric
brands include Neo Kate Junior for children who have food
allergies and app to Grow for those fussy eaters. And
those of us who have children know many kids who
go through the phases of definite fussiness. For more information
(00:49):
and resources, visit the nutritiona Pediatrics hub at nutritia dot
com dot au forward slash Pediatrics. I just want to
say a huge thank you to Nutritia. Their desire to
support nurses is truly appreciated, and they are allowing me
to continue this podcast so that we could all grow
as nurses. This season, we have some amazing speakers in
(01:10):
the pediatric space which I cannot wait to share with
you all. Hi, my name's beck Woodbine and welcome to
Tenderness for nurses.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm grateful for the person that I have the opportunity to.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Be, so I hit it and parked it for Nelly
four years.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We always have free will, We always get to choose.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
We are autonomous. Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back
into tenderness for nurses. It's been a few weeks since
I actually recorded a podcast because, as you know, I
had to have major back surgery and I just want
to give a really big shout out to the nursing
staff and the medical staff at Brisbane Private and Spine Plus.
(01:52):
Their care for me was just remarkable and as a
nurse being in hospital it is a very different experience
and I have to say I was very great to
everyone who cared for me and took the time to
check on me. We are so blessed to have the
(02:13):
healthcare system we have here in Australia. It really hit
home for me when I was in there for actually
for a week. So thank you for everyone that reached
out and sent well meaning messages. I really appreciated it.
And I'm back on the wagon. So I have the
fabulous Nick and I'm going to say wrong now, Mikezi
smash it from Orange Sky with me today. I've been
(02:34):
following Orange Sky for quite a while and I have
some friends that have done volunteer work with these guys.
They provide laundry and showers for people that are having
issues with homelessness. It's such an amazing need that is
being fulfilled and one you just don't think about when
it comes to basic necessities. Interestingly enough, I saw you
(02:57):
guys when I was looking out of the hospital. Put
a smile on my face every day to see all
these people there and getting a system and help and
people chatting with them. So how about you give us
a little bit of an overview of what Orange Sky
does and what it means to you.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah. So Orange Sky started in October twenty fourteenth, but
probably the story starts a little bit before that, where
Lucas and I went to school together and our school
had a food van that went out to that park
and fed people. And I can remember my mum taking
me to participate on that school food van one morning,
and at that point in time, I never met a
(03:38):
homeless person, and my perspective of life was that that
was something that I just didn't want to engage with,
and Mum actively gave back to the community and that
was a big part of her life, and Mom had
to bring me. And you know, that morning changed my
life because of a couple of reasons. One is I
met this guy by the name a Harry, and Harry
(04:00):
knew everything about me and my family, and you know,
he reminded me of my granddad or my uncle. But
at that point in time, Harry was sleeping rough and
I can remember going to school a day and just
thinking about Harry, because that morning opened my eyes to
a whole cohort of people that were in my own
backyard that I wasn't aware of. And I guess that
(04:22):
balance of having access to give back through the school van,
that amazing gift that my parents gave us in having
some perspective, Yeah, it was foundational an orange sky. But
two years later, Lucas and I were then more actively
volunteering on that school food van. We both then finished
high school. Lucas was at the top of the class,
(04:44):
I was at the bottom of the class. And then
Lucas came back from traveling overseas and we caught up
in a cafe. We were talking about ideas, and the
idea of this mobile laundry had come up again a
very selfish thing to continue what we enjoyed doing, which
was giving back to the community. So I had this
idea of building a free mobile laundry. New you needed
(05:05):
some serious washing machines, so we jumped on Google and
we started looking up serious washing machines and this company
comes up in Brisbane that sells washing machines. So we
sent some emails and convinced this company to a meeting.
And the night prior I came home from work, I
was working in a different job and I said, you know, mom, Dad,
Lucas and I are going to start a free mobile laundry.
(05:26):
And my mum looked up and she said, how about
you start washing your own clothes. So we knew very
little about starting a charity, but we had this vision
of building this van. So the company told us that
no one would ever wash and drive their clothes in
a park and you never get washing machines to work
in a van. But we sort of invited them to
be a part of this crazy idea and we said,
(05:48):
you know, well, if it does work, how cool would
it be. So you know, they gave us some washing machines.
We took the van out to their workshop, It was
a bit of a standoff because they were like, no, no,
we're not having any part of building this.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
This is your thing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So we took the van and the washing machines back
to our garage and built our first van Sudsey and
took that van outside our old school food van in
that park and Wickham Street and Orange Sky was born.
Why the name so Orange Sky's song by a British
singer songwriter called Alexi Murdock, and the song talks about
(06:22):
everyone being under an orange sky and helping out your
brothers and sisters and you know, the same kitchen table
that I told my parents about the starting this mobile
laundry was the founding place of Orange Sky. And I
were debating it was either a Brisbane laundry van or
mobile washing van, or why don't we just call it
Orange Sky? And if it was called Brisbane laundry van
(06:42):
right now, it'd be a bit awkward because we're a
bit far from Brisbane and a lot of our spots.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah. Absolutely. I was going through your website and looking
at different things, and you're trying to develop further initiatives.
Obviously you're seeing gaps and one of them was women
for women. How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, so I think maybe coming back to our missions
is always important. So our mission at Orange s Guy
is to positively connect communities, and that wasn't our mission
we started with. Our first mission statement was to improve
the hygiene standards of the homeless. And so we had
that first van alongside our old school food van. We
set the van up that first morning in October twenty fourteen.
(07:24):
You know, we started stealing water from the council. We
convinced this guy up and I said, hey, I know
this sounds a bit crazy, but I can you know,
wash and drayer clothes over there. And a few minutes
later he walked over with potentially his only possessions in
his life, and he introduced himself. His name was Jordan,
and we put Jordan's washing in that left washing machine
and we pressed the top button and the bottom button
(07:45):
and there was a massive bang, and we're like, oh,
I don't know if washing machines did to make that sound.
Caught up the washing machine company and they told us
we'd broken both the washing machines. So we apologized to Jordan.
We went back out to the workshop. You know, sorry,
this really angry laundry technician. We broke both the machines.
They gave us some new ones. Out the next morning
(08:06):
there was Jordan. Jordan trusted us with his only possessions.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
We put it in the van and the van broke again.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
But what we realized that morning is that Orange Sky
was something that really needed to work, because we'd let
Jordan down and it was sort of two days and
he was keen to trust these two idiots to wash
and dry his clothes. So we went out the third morning,
made some few changes to the van, and we put
Jordan's washing in and the van worked perfectly, and we
sort of reached that finish line to what we thought
(08:35):
was Orange Sky's mission. We were improving hygiene, we had
the van going. But what we realized and what we
never thought about, is like, what do we do now?
Because Jordan was his only possessions in his life were
trapped in our van and we were tethered to the
park because we were stealing water, and so I was like, well,
what should we do? And it was really simple. We
(08:55):
just had a conversation, and that conversation, without a doubt,
changed my life and change the trajectory of Orange Sky
because we realized that we had this really sacred special
opportunity to connect with the people, so we rewrote our
mission to positively connecting communities and Orange Skuy's grown a
lot in the last ten years and it's overwhelming to
(09:17):
see how much Orange Skuy can impact communities that don't
have access to what we provide. But now that Orange
Sky is in a privileged position to be able to
have that trust of the friends and the volunteers and
the donors and the broader community, we're really always looking
at how can Orange Sky help more people? And that's
where the women's only shift came from, is that homelessness
(09:40):
in Australia. You know, fifty six percent a male, forty
four percent of female from the last census, and we
know that the census isn't perfect, but a place like
we can park in Brisbane isn't a safe place for
a vulnerable female to be accessing our service. And a
lot of Orange Skuy services operate in parks in very rough,
(10:00):
sleeping communities, and what we acknowledged is that Orange Sky
could be helped being women in a more tailored and
appropriate service delivery model, and that's where the idea of
running women's only shifts operate, so you know, that's a
newer thing to obscud and something that we're really proud of,
but also you know, humbled that that is required, and
(10:21):
also you know, looking at services that aren't even on
our website to provide a really safe and dignified way
for people to access our service.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It really piqued my interest because the fastest growing demographic
is older women. The homelessness it must be terrifying being
a female and vulnerable, and it really makes me feel
sick that these women are sleeping in cars or sleeping
rough because they've just got nowhere else to go. I
feel the same way for men, but I think women
(10:52):
are so vulnerable, but I think everyone is in those situations,
aren't they.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
One of the biggest things I've learned in the last
ten years is that my stereotype about homelessness was completely
wrong and there are so many stereotypes and stigmas around homelessness.
In Australia, one and two hundred people are classified as
homeless and only six percent of that population are sleeping rough.
We see so many people who work multiple jobs who
(11:19):
are sleeping in their cars, and to realize the incredible
challenge it is to be a parent and be homeless.
Just blows my mind. And in particular women's space. If
you have teenage children and those children aren't female, you're
not able to go to some shelters because you know,
(11:39):
males aren't allowed at those those shelters. So you know,
if I think about my mum, she was in a
vulnerable spot. The first priority for her is looking after me,
and so that shelter is foregone by that, whether it
be you can't have you children or you can't have
certain people. And I've got a dog, Gambino, and in
most shelters you're not allowed pets and that so there
(12:01):
is access potentially to shelter, and then that might be
at for some people, but also acknowledging that we have
our different needs and desires. Some people want to be
in extroverted, vibrant communities, some people want to be by themselves.
And how do we actually tailor the services that are
available to what the end user wants And that's a
(12:21):
big way the sector needs to improve.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
At the end of last year, there was a young
guy sleeping rough down at the park and I was
quite concerned. Couldn't see him moving or breathing. So I
went and checked on him, and a couple of us
got him some food and blankets and pillow and when
he was able to talk, you know, I had a
bit of a chat with him. And he was there
for a few days, and saw him around a couple
of times, and you know, he went out of his
(12:46):
way to say thank you to me. And I haven't
seen him since, but he was telling me he had
a job, he was in a terrible accident, became addicted
to pain medications and then his life spiraled and he
moved up to Queensland. And it just breaks your heart,
but a little bit, doesn't it mean it wasn't through
(13:08):
any fault of his own really that he ended up
in this position. And what do they say, We're two
paychecks away from being homeless most Australians. I mean, that's
scary stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, absolutely, And my partner always talks about this quote.
We get sick alone and we heal together and the
power of a community. I know, some of the toughest
times in my life, my friends or family have rallied
around me. Life is not linear, and life can change
in a blink of an eye. You know, you injure yourself,
you lose your job, and then you're in a position
(13:40):
where maybe you're too a shamed to ask your support network.
So then this spiraling effect happens where you might run
away and then your community is completely disappears. So that's
why we are so passionate about that mission of positively
connecting communities. And you know, we're not naive enough to
think that we are substituting family or deep relational connections,
(14:04):
but what we are provide is consistent, genuine friendship to people.
And to see that grow over the last ten years
has been tremendous. Seeing friends who are in a tough
position come together and help each other, or to see
volunteers who also go through our life's trials and tribulations
come together and rally is really beautiful. And I'm constantly
(14:26):
reminded that the community that Orange s Guy helps. We
might be able to label people like a volunteer or
a don or a friend, but most of the time
it's actually impossible to because we have humans that are
complex but very simple come together and connect. And I
guess that's the beauty is that's where the magic happens.
Humans want connection. That's imperative to our well being.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That's one of the things in our saying with Alzheimer's
is that if you don't have that community and feeling
of belonging, that can actually exacerbate dementia other autoimmune conditions.
It's really quite fascinating what loneliness can do. You would
have seen huge growth in this space since covid.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, since Orange Guys started, we've grown about twenty
five percent each year because of the need and because
of yeah, I guess one one of the factors is need,
but also our growth. So you know now Orange Skuy's
got sixty eight services in forty seven locations in Australia
and six services and five locations over in our to
Row and New Zealand. Those vans go out over four
(15:29):
hundred and fifty times a week alongside service providers like
our old school food vans. So we've added a lot
of services and that's sort of fueled our growth. But
also here in Brisbane we're always adding new shifts, whether
that be a women's only shift taking our vans to
a motel to help people who are an emergency accommodation
have access to it, or a big part of Orange
(15:50):
Skuy's growth at the moment is into remote communities, first
nations communities providing basic health hardware, but also you know,
we're looking at having laundry and schools at the moment
because we know a big barrier to people having access
to good quality education and safe community is also laundry.
So you know, a lot of the graphs at Orange
Skuy just show a trend that is always going up,
(16:11):
and COVID was a big part of that. We had
to make a really tough decision at the peak of
COVID to press pause on a lot of our services
because of the frameworks that we're making decisions, and that
was only for a couple of week period that we
had all of our services shut down, and that was
an incredibly tough decision, knowing that you know, people potentially
only opportunity to talk to someone in a week was
(16:33):
an Orange Skuy shift. And then knowing that this bright
orange van wasn't going to be in a park and
wasn't going to be providing people who were already disconnected
and vulnerable and marginalized. They were even further disconnected, vulnerable
and marginalized through the pandemic, and so there was a
significant spike in our growth, going from you know, turning
(16:53):
those shifts off to back on. But I think what
the pandemic did is it reminded people of the importance
of hygiene and human connection. And we wouldn't wish that
upon anyone. But it's been really interesting that conversation since
where people being like, you know, it was really hard
not going and connecting with my community. Maybe the most
lonely they've been has been through the pandemic, and now
(17:16):
there is this relational point where they say, oh fuck,
I couldn't imagine what it's like, you know, living on
the streets and losing that community.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
In your experience, what is the number one cause of
homelessness in our country.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I don't think there's one cause. I think that there
is one or two events that happen that then send
people on a trajectory very quickly in finding themselves in
a tough spot. Jordan, our first of a friend, you know,
we had these few interactions with, was our first ever wash.
He trusted us, he came and went. But then we
(17:51):
sort of started seeing all these other people use our service.
And we've told Jordan's story for ten years, but we
actually lost track of Jordan. You know, we heard along
the grapevine that Jordan might have access ourselves on the
Gold Coast and last year we got in touch with
Jordan and that was an incredibly special moment and we're
(18:12):
still in touch with Jordan. And Jordan went to school,
had a loving and incredibly supportive family, had a job
at Macquarie Bank working on the IT desk, and was
probably on the limit of his relationship with alcohol, but
that was in Australian context, probably a normal social all point.
And then Jordan's father passed away and his first night
(18:35):
of being homeless was a day after his dad's funeral,
and that then very quickly compounded and escalated. And I
think that I always remind myself that if you think
about our stereotypes of homelessness, Jordan had a very high
paying job, he's incredibly intelligent, incredibly loving, has an amazing
supportive family, but then in a process of a couple
(18:57):
of years, found himself accessing our services. So there is
you know, over one hundred and thirty Jordan's out there.
There's for every star around. You know, a mother who
comes home one day and is completely locked out of
their home and have no access to financial bank accounts
and those sorts of things, or is fleeing violence and
(19:20):
it might be the most costly thing you ever do,
but your safety is paramount. So I guess, yeah, there's
no one thing that we see. I think on the
back end, what we see is that everyone is looking
for a sense of human connection, dignity, and just to
be treated as a fellow human. And I think that's
the common thing we see. Is like the situation that
(19:41):
got someone to be around an Orange sky van is
different for everyone, but the commonality is that they're there
to hang out and connect.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
A few years ago, which is one of the reasons
I started the podcast, I went through a really rough
patch and had severe depression. Always been fine, and when
I reflect on that now, and I'm very grateful at
that stage. I'd stop drinking before then because drinking, my
drinking was getting out of control. If I hadn't have
(20:09):
had the loving support of my husband and my kids
and my family, was quite obvious to me that I
could have ended up in that position. It can happen
to anybody. That's why I think kindness is so imperative,
because you don't know what anyone's going through. Everyone's got
a story. People not my choice want to be on
the streets, and often it might be safer to be
(20:30):
on the street than it is to be at home.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Absolutely, and Orange Sky's now got over four thousand volunteers,
and that hardship and loneliness is also present in that community.
And you know, we have an extraordinary volunteer, Robin in Hobart,
who was one of our first volunteers in Hobart. You know,
she joined Orange Sky in sort of that next act
of her life in a sense that she'd retired and
(20:54):
was looking at giving back to the community. And Robin's
world very quickly changed in a period of time where
her son in law and her husband passed away. Robin
talked about how hard it was being disconnected from her
community and those challenges that she was facing through to grief,
but the friends at Orange Sky and having an opportunity
(21:15):
to go and give back to the community was so
significant in her life. And I think that's the thing
that I'm always reminded by is that the people that
come to Orange Sky all have their own hardships. We
also all have our own successes and highs and the
beauty of the community is that we're on that journey
together for that moment, and that might be for one
(21:35):
load of washing which takes an hour for one person,
and that might be their only interaction with Orange Sky,
or it might be one whole shift every week for
ten years that a volunteer has been going on or
a friend's been going to. That sort of space and
moment is really special and valued.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
If your friends come in to use the laundry services,
if you perceive they've got a health issue or they're
going through a psychosis, how do you guys handle that?
Is there other services it's like one bridge that you
might refer them to, or how do you go about that?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, So the core to that mission of positively connecting
communities is realizing that partnerships are integrals. So at every
location that we operate, we're working with others service providers
like one Bridge or street Side Medics New South Wales
and Victoria or the Frio Street Doctor or in Wa
or it might be a clinician that's inside a homelessness
hub that we're operating outside of. So you know, we
(22:31):
talk about our volunteers aren't trying to preach, teach or
fix anything. They're there to provide friendship and connection, but
their success is actually to be able to get someone
a service that they maybe weren't aware of or comfortable
to get to the past. And was talking to Lucas
about a shift out in Redcliffe the other week where
he was just talking to a friend who was worried
(22:53):
about an upcoming operation and their health literacy wasn't great,
you know, Lucas was able to connect them with another
service provider who then was able to call them and
talk to them about getting to their appointments on time.
And of that friendship is something that you probably had
the same journey of being like I'm about to go
in for this operation and friends being let me drop you.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
And that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
And I think that that's actually the beauty of that
idea that we can be better through that sense of community.
And unfortunately, the people who need that most are in
the community that we service, and there is a big
gap of the people that are rallying behind and around them.
But I think if we can collaborate more and provide
(23:33):
access to those services is where we need to really focus.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Clean Slate Clinic has collaborated with one Bridge for those
people that have addiction issues, and I just thought, isn't
that just the best service to do? Those two working together.
When I heard that, I was so delighted because they're
both amazing services as well me being medical. That's where
I sort of lean towards how you can help people.
(23:58):
If someone wants to volunteer, how do they go about it?
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yep, So you don't need to be a washing expert
or a shower kind of sir. We do a lot
of healthcare professionals that volunteer with Orange Sky, a lot
of retired nurses and doctors, and they're usually the ones
that are like in there with like the best cleaning
procedure and very diligent, but also the most amazing connectors.
And for some people who leave a very care based industry,
(24:27):
who retire for their next chapter, you naturally do lose
this opportunity to give back, and that can be quite scary.
And so the cool thing about volunteering is that you
can fulfill that experience of caring, and I think that
that's why we attract so many amazing people. So yeah,
we always encourage people to jump onto our website orange
(24:49):
Sky dot org dot au. You can see all the
locations that we operate and the services that we're needing volunteers,
but also, you know, the great thing about our country
is that we see a problem and we want to
do something about it. And there's so many ways to
give back in a wather, be through volunteering as a
practicing nurse with one bridge, or whether it be actually
(25:11):
saying I don't want to be practicing, I just want
to come and chat to people and volunteer. I think
that's the cool thing is that there's so many ways
to give back to the community.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
I would assume running Orange Sky with Lucas there are
things that would really impact you. How do you guys
cope with that?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
You know, I think there's a mixture. One of our
first employees who was an organizational psychologist, Emily, she taught
us something very important.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Early on.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
We used to use this idea around positive and genuine,
non judgmental relationships, and you know, we train our volunteers
in that and train them in the f word, use
the word friend. And then it was that second bit,
and you know, Emily came to us and said, you know, actually,
I think by Orange Sky labeling everything as positive and
(25:59):
non judgmental, you're actually excluding this very important part of life,
which is the darkness, and not everything in life is positive.
So if you actually just acknowledge that you're providing space
to really see people in that moment, and that was
an extraordinary insight and shaped the trajectory of Orange Sky.
(26:21):
So we deeply acknowledge that challenges a part of our community,
and challenge is probably the reason why people have come
to Orange Sky. They could be potentially the toughest time
of their life. We're also trying to get washing machines
to work in a vent. We're also trying to fundraise,
you know, we're also trying to deal with people that
are innately complex, and you know, we all have our
own challenges. So I think, you know, just acknowledging that
(26:44):
the stuff we're doing is challenging, I think then actually
gives us a space to then want to be able
to get support or help. Orange Skuys have got an
extraordinary team of staff and volunteers that deliver our servers
and Lucas and I are incredibly blessed that we've got
so many people around us that are supporting, you know,
whether that be our board, or our families or our friends.
(27:06):
So I think there's a couple pass thing. One is
acknowledging that, you know, the stuff that we're doing isn't easy,
but we enjoy the challenge and acknowledging that the challenge
is there and to be able to name it and
see it. The second is that you know, we're surrounded
by amazing people, you know, as we preach it Orange
Sky the power of community. We're very lucky with their community.
And I think also, you know, we have really beautiful friendship.
(27:30):
You know, Lucas now leads and runs Orange Sky is
our CEO and does an extraordinary job at that and
it's still the smartest guy I know. And you know,
I'm able to build a few things. And you know,
our complementary friendship is really important with your volunteers.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
If they chat to someone one of their friends that
come into user services and you know what is shared
with them is a little bit traumatizing. How do you
care for the volunteers?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Yeah, so a couple of different ways. One is we
really support our well. Our volunteers are work, so there's
no difference between being a volunteer and a worker. From
a legislative process, so our volunteers are treated as workers
and we take their safety incredibly seriously. You know, we
support our volunteers with training and onboarding around how to
(28:20):
have some of those difficult conversations, how to refer to
service providers. We also support our volunteers in a EAP
program where they can have access to counselors to debrief
and connect, but also acknowledging that we can always do
more in that space. So, you know, I'm proud of
what ourrange Guide provides for our volunteers and our community
(28:41):
at the moment, but I'm always interested in, you know,
how can we take that experience to the next level.
And that's something that we're always looking at as an organization.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
People find homelessness really confronting. How should people treat or
address someone that's homeless? So I always say hello and
just go hey, how are you going? When I'm in
the States with my daughter, I probably spend more money
buying coffee for everyone else them myself, because the homelessness
there is out of control. It's tragic. But here in
(29:11):
a strait it is something we find very confronting us like, oh,
you know, I don't want to see that. How do
we change that dialogue? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I think a couple things that one is acknowledging.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
It's hard.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
And the great thing about Orange Sky is that we
build very deep, almost immediate relationships because we have this
side thing which is, hey, do you have some washing
put in the machine, and then the conversation takes place.
So we are going into people's living rooms or homes,
whether that be a park or a drop in center,
(29:46):
that's their space. So we are going into a very
sacred space, and we are providing something that is very intimate,
which is laundry and showers. So we are fortunate that
we are able to form a connection quite quickly. But
I think, you know, for engaging with people out there
in the community when you're not at an Orange Sky
s us. You know, we love the F word, which
(30:07):
is friends. It's something that's incredibly respectful and inviting to
acknowledge someone as that and if you don't know their name,
and I think starting a conversation and you know, coming
back to not trying to fix anything or teach anything
or tell anything.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
It's just to check in.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
And you know, I think there's so many things that
we do with our own friends that has just applied
to that cohort of people. It may be introducing yourself
finding commonality. You know, one of my favorite conversation starters
is remembering something about a previous conversation. Hey, John, how
good was it that sporting team one? Hey Michelle, did
you see that tram arrived on time? You know, those
(30:46):
really simple things that you do with with your normal,
everyday friends, I think is so important. So I'm always
thinking about the weather and the impacts that the community has,
and I always find myself, you know, if there's a
big storm and I'm falling asleep hearing the rain on
a roof, thinking, you know, I hope friends out there
(31:08):
are okay, but actually knowing there's not much I can
do right now. But the next day you can open
that conversation with you know, how are you doing after
last night?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And I think that is a really simple way to
show that you care, because you're not sugarcoating. It's just
providing a little bit of space to acknowledge, like, hey,
I was thinking about you last night because that was
a really hectic storm. And the person might be like, oh,
a great sleep I was tucked away in here, or
some might be like, you know what it was?
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Shit? Yeah, and thanks for seeing that that sucked. When
I first started with my business, I used to do
that same thing. I'd have a sheet of paper and
I'd be writing down order's name, spouse's name, has a dog.
And it's quite interesting how it builds a raport so
fast because you've taken the time to actually remember something
(31:55):
about them, and it makes them feel worthy and valuable
that they meant enough to you that you remembered something.
I'm sure people that are doing it tough really love
it that someone is actually thinking about them, just beyond
their situation. And I really struggle that homelessness is growing
so rapidly in our country, and when we are just
(32:18):
so blessed, and with my trips to the States where
my daughter lives when she first went over there before COVID,
from then to now, you know, the different places we've
been to and the huge demographic growth of people sleeping
rough has blown us away. And you know, I just
don't want Australia to be like that. We meant to
(32:39):
look after each other, and sometimes I think, is it happening?
Means people like you doing the right thing, But you
know what can the rest of us do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:47):
I think it's easy to get overwhelmed sometimes. But also
you know, I was in Sydney last week and I
was out for a run near Circular Key and had
this great run and then I was running down the
street and there's this bright orange van. You know, there's
volunteers sitting out and they're having an awesome chat and
you know, I go and introduce myself. They have no
idea who I am, and you know, hey, I'm near like,
(33:08):
oh God, do you want to wash your clothes? And
I'm like, nah, I'm just here to say, you know,
thanks for what you do. And so, you know, I
think kindness is in so many pockets. I think sometimes
we forget about the extraordinary people that you know, go
and do good. But I was just thinking about a
very good friend and mentor to us at Orange Sky
(33:29):
Camogra talked about in one of our first stories. It's
knowing that someone cares, and it's all about hope. And
you know, I think we can get more sophisticated in
policies and procedures and technology around you know, engaging with
people and whatnot. But I think it in a simplest form,
if you care, then all of that other stuff falls
into place. And if that means that you just care
(33:51):
or you're passionate about something, then I think that's going
to flow onto your relationships. Whereas like, if you care
deeply about nature and then you're talking to someone about nature,
that'll probably be the thing you talk about next time.
You actually don't need those prompts around asking questions about
people's interests and hobbies. But I sometimes get overwhelmed with
being like, oh fuck, I is this assignment sheet on someone.
(34:13):
But if you just start a genuine conversation and you care,
all of that mesh of tissue of relationship will form,
and then you might find this pattern where you know,
you both realize that you grew up in the same area,
or that you both like a certain artist, or you know,
like you could never predict that. And I think that's
(34:34):
the beauty of orange sky is like, you know, we
used to say, let's get one volunteer from this demographic
and one volunteer from this demographic, and then let's get
you know, let's put them on that shift because they
might be safer. And then you realize that you know,
a volunteer that you never thought would be appropriate for
a shift or would get on with another volunteer, they
become best friends, you know, and it's like, why is
(34:56):
a eighteen year old become best friends with the ninety
six year old who's volunteering, and why do they now
drive to shift together? And you can ever predict some
of these things. You know, both their families grew up
in a similar area and now they're hanging out outside
of Orange Sky and helping each other at the library
and this sort of stuff. So yeah, I think it
can get overwhelming seeing the rates of loneliness and isolation
(35:20):
and polarization grow in the world, and we shouldn't not
acknowledge that. But I also think that it's not too hard,
Like we know the fix. It's really basic. It's connecting
with people, it's treating people well. And I think that
that like we're not having to find a cure. This
is something that is really preventable.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
And people know when you're being genuine you know, they
can tell when you're genuinely interested in them and what
they have to say, you know. So I mean, do
you find with your volunteers that they're looking for something
more or they really want to give back to the community,
Like is there a particular recipe around what your volunteer
(36:05):
is are looking for No.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
It's the same as like why the friends rock up there? Right,
Like there's you know some volunteers that might have more
time they registered a volunteer. You know, one of my
favorite stories is there was an elderly volunteer who in
the early days signed up. I was out and ship
with them, and this volunteer like pulled me aside and
was like, this is the laziest volunteering I've ever seen.
(36:28):
And they're like, you know, you just set the van up,
you plug it in, You're just sitting around talking. What
an absolute joke. And I was like thinking to myself,
like pretty much all we do is like, you know,
like how did we get that wrong? But for that person,
you know, they're volunteering was painting a wall or building
a fence or reading someone a book, and Orange Skuy
just wasn't the right outlet for them to volunteer. And
that's totally fine. I actually feel bad that Orange Sky,
(36:50):
you know, didn't clearly articulate what we were doing. But
I think that's the great thing is, you know, some
volunteers really love setting the van up and putting the
washing in and cleaning after a shower where some volunteers
have like never touched, you know, anything to do with
the van. They just rock up and they sit on
a chair and they hang out with people, and I
think that that's the cool thing. But I think, you know,
(37:11):
there's so many ways to connect and give back, which
is sort of what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Do you have lots of younger people volunteering.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
We've got a whole Like our youngest volunteer is eighteen,
and you know, our oldest volunteers is ninety seven. So
you know, our most common age used to be twenty
four and fifty five. But you know, so many different
different reasons people volunteer, and that can change over time.
You know, for Robin in Hobart, she wanted to join,
she had a bit more time, and she wanted to
(37:40):
give back. But now she volunteers because that's her community
and that's her human connection and she couldn't see a
world without having a part of Orange Sky in it.
Whereas for some volunteers, you know, they might move to
a new area and not have any deep friends or
community in the area. They volunteer, form some friends and
(38:02):
their job might change and so then they don't volunteer
with Orange Sky. But you know, like it was moving
around all these sorts of things. You know, we have
volunteers that start when they're on paternity or maternity leave. Like,
there's so many different reasons why why people volunteer?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Do you have to be eighteen to volunteer? You can't
be younger? Or can you do it with a family member?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah, so we made the call, which is a tough
call because, like I said, it was a big impact
on my life. But yeah, to volunteer at orange skuy
you have to be eighteen. But also all of orange
Sky shifts at public, So if a young person did
want to see an Orange Sky service, you know they could.
They're all in public locations where they're most welcome to
pop down and have a look.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
What would be the biggest life lesson that you have
learned through running setting up Orange Sky?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, it's like, you know, one of the things I'm
incredibly thankful for is Orange Sky's taught me so much.
And so it's hard to say one thing, but I think,
you know, the first thing that comes to mind is
the idea of this quote is dysfunction is the difference
between what you know and what you apply, and I think,
(39:14):
you know, we're always especially in this day and age,
like it's very easy to access knowledge or to know
that to be healthier we need to exercise, or to
know that volunteering is a good thing, so we should volunteer.
But then the gap being around well, you know, we
say we're busy or you know, something comes up, and
so if you apply it to Orange Sky's context, we
(39:34):
knew that people didn't have access to laundry, and you know,
we knew that there were ways to give back to
the community and charities and that sort of thing. But
the only difference to to why Orange Sky might have
worked is that we just did something about it and
now you know, Orange Sky is what it is today.
But I think acknowledging that we're all dysfunctional to some
(39:56):
level and that's a part of life. But I think,
you know, the biggest lesson is thinking about how do
we when we know something do something about it and
then what the learning from that? And I think, you know,
that's something that I really try and take into to
my life is thinking about, you know, what is something
that I know I should be doing that I'm not doing,
and then just give it a bit of energy and
(40:17):
then see what happens.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Thank you so much for coming in today. I have
been looking forward to this chat for a long time.
I actually was on there last night looking about more
of the volunteering side of things. So, guys, I will
put up all the information about Orange Sky in the
show notes so that if you decide do you want
to look into it a bit further, or you want
(40:40):
to volunteer or go on the board or all that
information will be there. I know you are super busy,
and I really appreciate you coming in and chatting about
the amazing work you do, so thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Thank you. And it's probably a bit of hing pong,
but I always like reminding people that you actually don't
need an Orange Sky service to care or give back.
And the majority of people probably listening, if you've made
it this far, career in healthcare is innately caring. It's
very easy to get overwhelmed with the business or the
bureaucracy or the process, but reminding yourself that you can
(41:16):
deliver that hope and care, and you are delivering that
hope and care each and every day, and it's just
those little tweaks around what Orange Sky is doing is
no different to what a nurse is doing in seeing
someone and potentially the toughest time of their life, whether
the most scared and confused and vulnerable. One of our
volunteers here in Brisbane was a head of a pediatric
(41:37):
ICU for thirty or forty years or whatever, and I
sort of said to them, like, you know, what's the
biggest lesson that you learned in that whole time? And
they said, you know, the first thing that I teach
every one of our team in ICU is before we
even look at the patient or the young person is
we ask the parents, you know, what's the child's name
(41:58):
and why did you call them that? And in that
moment that was the most profound thing because we could
tell so much about their health, literacy, and their upbringing
and their values just by asking them their name. And
I was like, that's all we do at Orange guys,
we say hey, friend, what's your name? You know, and
it's just the simple ast thing that you know, they're
probably working in incredibly time precious and a bit of
(42:21):
a deviation at the end of him we're coming into land,
but I think just really want to acknowledge the extraordinary
impact that you know your audience and you you listening
is having on the communion.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Thank you for your service. Oh, thank you so much
for coming in. And like I say to people, kindness
cost you nothing, and it's okay to acknowledge someone. I
think it's worse when you walk past someone the's homeless
and try to pretend they're not there. You know, give
them a smile as if they want a coffee. That's
my go to just show some kindness. And I think
(42:52):
the world would be a better place this season. I
am so excited to announce it. The podcast is being
supported by Nutritia, which is a global leader in medical nutrition.
They understand the needs of nurses in the nutrition space
and for over one hundred and twenty five years have
provided products to support child health. Some of Nutrita's pediatric
(43:15):
brands include Neo Kate Junior for children who have food allergies,
and apt to Grow for those fussy eaters. And those
of us who have children know many kids who go
through the phases of definite fussiness. For more information and resources,
visit the Nutrita Pediatrics Hub at nutritia dot com dot
au forward slash pediatrics. I just want to say a
(43:38):
huge thank you to Nutritia. Their desire to support nurses
is truly appreciated and they are allowing me to continue
this podcast so that we can all grow as nurses.
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