On Monday, a mobile shower for the homeless charity that operates in the south-east celebrated one year of giving a little dignity back to the most vulnerable members of community.
VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS finds out how Clean as Casper founder and regular guy Steve Winterton became a hero to those who need it most.
“He said he wouldn’t mind a shower because he hadn’t had a shower for six years.”
It all started with Ted.
When Steve Winterton was a younger man working for his then-partner’s family business in Hawthorn, he met Ted, a homeless man sleeping rough near Glenferrie Road.
Ted never knew it but he would be the first person to drastically change Mr Winterton’s life.
Mr Winterton was just 21 years old and fresh out of his home town of Narre Warren North and during his lunch break he would buy a cheeseburger for a homeless man who lived on the streets in the area.
This was the first time Steve had contact with members of the homeless community but it was 10 years later that Ted would come to change who Steve was forever.
In 2015, Steve returned to Hawthorn on other business and while he was there he went looking for Ted to buy him a cheeseburger again.
To his surprise, Steve found a different man sitting in Ted’s old spot just off Glenferrie Road.
“Ted had passed away and I was pretty upset about that,” he said.
“I got talking to this new guy, though, and while we were talking I spoke about wanting to help him in his situation.
“He mentioned that it would be really nice to get his clothes clean so I thought about it and I went home and started to think about starting a service to clean homeless people’s clothes.
“My partner at the time said that had already been done so I went online and Googled and connected with Orange Sky.”
As luck would have it, the mobile laundry service that started in Brisbane in 2014 was looking to start servicing homeless people in Melbourne.
Steve met up with the Orange Sky volunteers on Brunswick Road in Collingwood.
“I started volunteering in the city on the laundry van and I am still there today, although only once a fortnight,” Mr Winterton said.
“It is still important to me.”
It was while volunteering with the laundry van that Mr Winterton moved to Kooweerup and realized the service was missing from Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
“There was a need for this kind of service where homeless people had been forgotten about,” he said.
Mr Winterton approached Nick and Lucas from Orange Sky with the idea but they said they were too busy to extend their service.
Not one to be deterred by a challenge, Mr Winterton launched his own one-man Orange Sky operation across Cardinia, Casey, Frankston and Greater Dandenong areas.
By the second half of 2015 Mr Winterton’s own Orange Sky van had a number of other volunteers working on it.
“It was amazing and one of the best things I have ever done,” he said.
“It was not just about the washing, it was about connecting with people, hearing their stories and helping out.
“There is nothing more special than helping people out and then coming back a week later and hearing they have improved.”
It was through his talent of being able to speak to anyone and his endless stores of empathy that Mr Winterton’s life was going to be drastically changed for a second time.
This time it all started with Casper.
“I was about five months into operating Orange Sky in the south-east when I met a homeless guy in Frankston called Casper,” he said.
“I saw him every Wednesday for breakfast on the washing van and one of the rules was we aren’t allowed to accept anything but you’ll find homeless people are really generous.
“Casper had a trolley with all kinds of stuff in it and he tried to give me things all the time. One time he gave me a Christmas angel that hung from the mirror in the van.”
After accepting the angel, a series of trades was sparked between Casper and Mr Winterton.
The trades become a regular part of their meeting with the two men from different worlds always doing their best to make the other happy.
It was after Casper spent a week busking on the street to raise money to buy a gift for Mr Winteron that a conversation between the two would change both men forever.
“Of course, I accepted his gift but I had no idea what to get him in return so I said to Casper that what I got him was going to be a big trade and I asked him what he wanted,” he said.
“He said he wouldn’t mind a shower because he hadn’t had a shower for six years.
“I thought to myself, I’ve got the van here so the next stop for me is I’m going to get a mobile shower.”
And get a mobile shower he did.
Mr Winterton managed to raise about $1200 through a crowdfunding campaign to get his idea off the ground and bit by bit his idea slowly became a reality.
Since launching the Clean as Casper mobile shower in March 2016, Mr Winterton and a group of about eight volunteers have provided countless showers to homeless people across the south-eastern suburbs.
Mr Winterton also makes sure he spends time with his clients and helps connect them to other services they may need or just to provide some conversation.
“It’s about so much more than just a hot shower,” he said.
The Clean as Casper members were recently awarded a $25,000 grant from Sunsuper that will allow them to move their service from the back of the trailer into the back of truck.
“We interviewed all our homeless clients and asked them what they really wanted from the service,” Mr Winterton said.
“We are going with only one shower for privacy because we often cater for victims of sexual and physical abuse who may not feel safe and might need a bit more space,” Mr Winterton said.
“We’ve got enough money now to by our truck which will have a bigger shower, more hot water to provide more showers, a spot for hairdressing, and we are hoping to bring on a couple of volunteer nurses for health checks and free flu shots.”
Working closely with people who have found themselves without a home has taught Mr Winterton a lot about how people end up in this situation and the best avenues for assistance.
“It’s taught me not to judge a book by its cover – some of the people have least have the most,” he said.
“They are the kindest people I have ever met, they’ve been the happiest in terms of they don’t let little things bother them, the way they look out for each other and their friendships are amazing.”
Mr Winteron said there is a common misconception about homelessness and homeless people.
“They say over 80 per cent of homeless people suffer mental illness but in my experience it is closer to 95 per cent,” he said.
“Many of my clients have deep problems and have had a lot had terrible things happen to them and they are now suffering for that.
“I can guarantee you they didn’t just wake up and decide to get addicted to alcohol or drugs or develop a mental illness.
“Those that judge homeless people don’t really understand and they look at the person and just judge them but when you get to know the person behind the homelessness, they are quite special.”
Mr Winterton said he would like to see services for the homeless that focus on why people end up on the street and really tackle the underlying issues that force people into desperate situations.
Until that happens, however, he said his philosophy of “just listen and help” along with the mobile shower unit will will remain and he hopes to expand to other areas of Melbourne and beyond.
