From Sleepbus to ZBus: Hervey Bay shows up for the homeless

Joining hands with Sleepbus volunteers, the Rotary Club of Hervey Bay City, Qld, stepped in just in time to save a bus from the defunct Sleepbus fleet, and chartered a Rotary satellite club with eight new members in the process.

Words: Sarah Atkins. President, No Borders Rotaract.

A small, relaxed community on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, Hervey Bay shines bright in the sun. Temperatures tend to stay between 20° and 30° year-round; the area boasts excellent scuba diving and snorkelling opportunities, as well as inviting seaside neighbourhoods that sprawl up into the surrounding hills.

While this all sounds idyllic, rises in vacation tourism and rental uncertainty have led to an increasing homeless population – especially among youth. Data published by HNBC reports that 13 per cent of Fraser Coast’s youth have experienced homelessness; a steady rise from previous years.

To provide some respite, a nationwide ‘Sleepbus’ charity was founded in 2016, reaching Hervey Bay in 2023. The premise was simple: outfit a bus with sleeping pods and individual bathrooms to provide a safe, judgement-free night’s sleep for anyone who needed it. The bus was operated by local volunteers under a rotating schedule of locations in the town centre and was regularly used by unhoused individuals, including women and children fleeing from domestic violence.

However, due to financial difficulty, Sleepbus recently closed operations, devastating volunteers and sleepers alike.

What followed was a fast-acting, heart-filled effort to save the existing bus and transfer ownership and operations to the community. Spearheaded by Kelly Thumath, the original Sleepbus volunteers teamed up with the Rotary Club of Hervey Bay City to claim the bus and keep its doors open to those in need. The bus was officially relaunched in August, rebranded as ZBus for those all-important “Zzzzzz” peaceful, safe sleeps it offers.

It’s been a very exciting and nerve-wracking time,” Kelly said. “We were just a bunch of volunteers and were told in no uncertain terms by the owner of the Sleepbus charity that if we couldn’t find a new owner, our bus would be sent to another community for its use. So, the pressure was on.”

Kelly put out a call for aid, and Rotary Club of Hervey Bay City President Gerry Meijer and Treasurer Roger Skipsey responded.

“It’s a good partnership – the passion and enthusiasm of the volunteers with the experience of the Rotarians,” Kelly said.

“The rebranding, repairing and reregistering of the bus was such a huge job that without the hands-on approach from Rotary there is absolutely no way we would have got the bus back up and running.

“It’s been a rollercoaster and a huge learning curve – everything from finding out the bus needed $11,000 worth of repairs to make it roadworthy, to fighting with the Department of Main Roads about whether we could register it as a motorhome.”

But the outcome was well worth the effort. Kelly has witnessed first-hand the power of initiatives like these.

“As the original Sleepbus, we did 88 sleeps for minors under the age of 18. Some of these were accompanied by a parent fleeing domestic violence, however, many were alone. Hence the need to get the bus back up and running.”

But it’s not just safety the bus provides; it also inspires renewed confidence.

One guest said that she had such a good night’s sleep on the bus for the first time in forever that she went and had a shower at the beach, went to the esplanade cafes and asked for work, which resulted in her finding a job and a better life.”

The ongoing collaboration between Rotary and the ZBus volunteers ultimately resulted in the formation of the Rotary ZBus Satellite Club, with the eight original bus volunteers now all Rotarians. Kelly has taken on the role of club chair.

Another original Sleepbus volunteer turned Rotarian is 14-year-old Toby Robinson, who has devoted by far the most hours to the Sleepbus initiative, providing 171 safe sleeps since 2023.

“Toby leaves us all for dust in the volunteering stakes, he’s our award-winning star,” said Kelly.

Toby was duly named Young Volunteer of the Year by the Fraser Coast City Council. He continues to be an invaluable asset and can be seen smiling broadly in a picture from the satellite club’s first meeting in March.

On its inaugural weekend in August, ZBus was able to provide shelter for two people and their dog, and three people and their dog the next night. Since then, grateful guests have been piling in over a very wet week on the Fraser Coast.

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