Gallery: How Nambour’s Winter Shelter program is changing lives
The Shack Community Centre Pastor Dale Dowler.
By Cameron Outridge
Nambour’s first Winter Shelter began with a simple aim: give people sleeping rough a safe, warm place to spend the night.
By the end of its inaugural 10-week season, some guests had found permanent accommodation, others had begun rebuilding their lives and, remarkably, some had even returned to the shelters as volunteers.
Those outcomes were celebrated on Saturday, August 22, when guests, volunteers and church leaders gathered at Flametree Baptist Church on Coes Creek Road to mark the end of the 2026 program.
The Nambour Winter Shelter brought together The Shack, Flametree Baptist Church, Sanctuary Park Church, Nambour Christian Church and Ignite Church Nambour, with each hosting guests on different nights of the week and volunteers providing beds, meals, showers, conversation and company.
Pastor Dale Dowler, from The Shack, said one of the greatest outcomes had been the relationships formed during those nights.
He told the gathering that guest Daniel had now found permanent accommodation “through the direct contact with someone within the shelter, just having a chat, having a conversation, building community”.
Another guest, Jessica, had arrived at the shelter very nervous. “She said, ‘I was just so anxious, but then I felt so peaceful. It just brought me to a place where I could feel safe’,” Pastor Dowler said.
Jessica has since also found accommodation.
Another guest Martin has moved into The Shack’s Gen One Village men’s housing project in Nambour, while other guests also found accommodation during the winter.
Sanctuary Park Church coordinator Harvey Sinfield said the most important achievement was straightforward. “We simply saw winter shelter as three things. People caring for other people. People caring about other people, and people serving other people,” he said. “There’s been food, there’s been fellowship, there’s been birthdays, there’s been deep conversations, fun, laughter. But I’d have to say that the highlight for me and hopefully my team is the number of our guests that have moved from a homeless situation into some sort of permanent accommodation. And surely that’s what winter shelter’s all about.”
For some guests, the shelters provided more than protection from cold nights. One guest said the experience had helped him begin socialising again. “It’s been really good and socialising … I’m a bit shy and I don’t really socialise and now I’m getting back in,” he said. “It’s just really a safe place.”
Another described being overwhelmed by the generosity shown to him. “I haven’t received that in a long time. I’m overwhelmed by the gifts and the welcoming to support me in this hard time.”
Marcus, who was the sole guest on the first night of the program, later returned as a volunteer. He described the shelter as “a place basically where I felt relaxed, welcomed, cared for”. “The volunteers were really great. They helped out in every way,” he said. “They were friendly and welcoming.”
Flametree coordinator Morag Roy said seeing Marcus move from guest to volunteer summed up much of what the program had achieved. “From coming in as a guest to becoming a volunteer, to me that just fills my heart,” she said.
Mrs Roy told the guests they had also changed the lives of those who came to help. “Each one of you (guests) is unique. Each one of you is incredibly special. And you just worked your way into our hearts,” she said. “You guests changed my life.”
