On nights when there’s nowhere to go, this ‘cafe’ for rough sleepers lights the way home

She drifted between budget hotels at first, but once her savings ran low, she turned to the streets for the first time in her late 60s.

The supermoons were among Bernie’s brighter memories of rough sleeping, along with the times strangers went out of their way to give her food or a blanket, or expressed concern about her.

Others were less kind. She remembers parents passing by and warning their children: “When you grow up, you don’t listen, you got no money, you’re going to sleep in the streets like her.”

She would wake at 5.30am, wash up in a public toilet and go to her part-time job. She took showers at fitness centres and washed her clothes at a laundromat. She kept what she could fit into two bags she took wherever she went, and stored the rest of her belongings with a friend.

Mostly, she kept to herself. “People have been very disappointing when you ask for help and no help came,” she said.

“Then out of nowhere, Brian and his team came … They built up a confidence in me that I can open up to this team of people.”

Mr Brian Monteiro is the manager of shelters and programmes at the Catholic Welfare Services’ (CWS). Since 2014, he has led CWS’ night walks to befriend and help those living on the streets.

When the reticent Bernie first encountered CWS volunteers during one of these night walks in January 2024, she closed herself off: “I just didn’t want to talk to any one of them.”

Over a month of check-ins, she gradually warmed to them and started to open up about her life. In April 2024, she was persuaded to visit CWS’ Night Cafe at Waterloo Street, which was newly reopened after a lengthy hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There, in a bright, clean and air-conditioned room, Bernie met other rough sleepers. 

She joined them at a table with the volunteers, where they dug into packets of freshly cooked donated food. 

On Tuesdays, they get bento sets courtesy of the Grand Pacific Hotel, and on Wednesdays, patrons enjoy tze char meals prepared by a generous restaurant owner.

This year, CWS started a third session on Thursdays, with a “long-term goal of operating the cafe every weeknight”, not only to provide meals, but also “companionship and a sense of belonging”, the charity said in its annual report.

As the patrons ate, they opened up about their personal stories.