HOMELESS men who have stayed at the Uniting Safe Shelter (USS) this year have been able to get their lives back on track.
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The shelter ran from mid-May through to mid-October, in that time providing short-term emergency accommodation to 41 different people.
Reasons for using the service varied from needing a place to stay for a night after being released from jail, to being without a stable home for an extended period.
At an afternoon tea for USS volunteers last week, coordinator Julie Greig shared some of the success stories to come out of the shelter this year.
Seven of the guests have got themselves into housing, while three others have gone home to their families.
Another two guests are waiting to move into housing and one person recently released from jail was looking at a halfway house.
While it's not known if there's been any changes since, one man let them know he had been off drugs for eight days.
Ms Greig also received a touching phone call from a former guest who, unbeknownst to USS, had been going through chemotherapy while staying with them.
He has just been told he is cancer free.
"He was very excited to hear he got the all-clear and wanted to call to tell me. And I was pretty excited to hear it, too," she said.
"We only get to hear a fraction of the stories, but I suspect there are many more. Some don't tell us because they are private and don't like to talk about them."
The stories are a pleasing result for the entire USS family, from the Bathurst Uniting Church itself, to all the people who have supported it through volunteer work.
Reverend Claire Wright praised everyone who helped with the shelter and acknowledged how significant it was that those who were homeless had used the service and achieved positive outcomes.
"We do this as people of faith, but hearing these stories, that takes a lot of faith for people to come to us for help," she said.
