Every Sunday at 4pm, outside the Nowra Medical and Skin Centre, Junction Street fills with people seeking something that many of us take for granted – a warm meal, friendly faces and a place to feel safe. 

Within 30 to 60 minutes, every one of the 250-500 meals prepared by the Guru Nanak Darbar South Coast Sikh Temple is gone.

For almost three years, the Guru Nanak Free Kitchenette has quietly become one of the Shoalhaven’s most relied-upon weekend support services, feeding the homeless, the isolated and anyone who needs some help to get by.

“We cook on Saturday evening and start preparing meals again from 5am Sunday,” said secretary Dr Gurdeep Singh, who also volunteers his medical services. 

Sikhs are known to provide service during the bushfires and floods along with providing free services to the whole community not only in Nowra, but all over the world.

“We’re always looking for volunteers … anyone can join, any time. There’s no restriction – you just need to be willing to provide service.”

The temple’s work extends far beyond food. 

Free medical appointments – including international travelers and people without Medicare – skin cancer checks, general treatments and even emergency shelter are offered seven days a week as part of the Sikh practice of seva, or selfless service.

“We do get a lot of people here who are looking for doctors, especially over the weekend, they can’t find doctors and they always come here and say we are so nice to be having doctors work on the weekend,” Dr Singh said

Nowra Medical and Skin Centre

 The temple will soon move from 125 Bells Lane, Meroo Meadow to 13 Westbrook Road, Nowra, where food and shelter will continue to be available not only Sunday, but everyday. 

A kiosk is also planned to be installed inside the medical centre in the near future to help people at any hour.

“The service itself is rewarding. We don’t want anything out of it, so we are happy and blessed to be able to provide service to our community,” Dr Singh said.

The weekly operation is supported by a dedicated network of South Coast locals, among them Kerry Fahey, owner of Kiama’s Coastal Fusion, and Maura Cato of Fox Ground.

Fahey began collecting clothing, bedding and towels during the floods earlier this year, then coats during a bitter winter, eventually establishing the temple’s Sunday gatherings in Nowra.

“There’s really nowhere else on the weekend you can get free food in Nowra if you’re homeless,” Fahey said. 

South Coast MP Liza Butler has also become a regular supporter, arriving with her hands full.

“Liza has been a big support,” Dr Singh said. “She brings lots of grocery bags, at least 20 a week”

Butler has also recently secured a home for a woman who had been without stable housing for decades.

“It’s really great because then people that wouldn’t normally come to me – I can sit with them in a corner in there and talk to them, help them with whatever’s in their lives,” Butler said. 

Fahey also credited Butler for her aid with the housing.

“We can support them with love, care, food and clothing, but Liza can really help,” Fahey said. 

On Thursdays, Fahey and Cato join a group of local women in collecting bread from Baker’s Delight Kiama to help support the Sunday event. 

“We get to know people and bond,” Fahey said. “Everyone gets on with what they can. I just wish we had more space.”

Volunteers say the need is growing. 

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Many people stepping off the last train from Sydney at Bomaderry are looking for a safe place to start again. 

“There’s homeless in Kiama and Berry, but nowhere near the number in Nowra,” Cato said. 

Others have lived locally through long-term hardship. One woman who visits the kitchen has been homeless since she was 11 - she’s now 40. 

“That's a long time to be homeless isn’t it?” Fahey said, “ She lives with no electricity, no capacity to cook– Liza’s working with her at the moment.” 

Cato added: “They just really had a hard life, or it’s the family you’re born into, as simple as that.”

International research on the gap in life expectancy consistently reveals large differences among those who are experiencing homelessness compared with those who are not.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, studies have found people who are homeless die an average of 22 to 33 years younger than those who are housed.

Research has shown much of the mortality gap is due to causes which could be effectively treated with appropriate health care.

The people who come each week to Junction Street remain, in Fahey’s words, “beautiful and so appreciative.”

For Dr Singh, the solution is simple. “Just like a beehive,” he said, “Bees collect nectar not for themselves, but for others. Our purpose is the same.

"Our main reason for life is to be of service. That should be the motto of every member of the community.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer can visit the Guru Nanak Darbar South Coast Sikh Temple Saturday from 6pm or Sunday from 5am.