Meet Damien, our award-winning volunteer

Damien has been a Community Volunteer for five years. He is a graduate of the Client Volunteer Program, which he joined in 2016. After training with the Client Volunteer Program, Damien became one of the inaugural baristas who set up the O Café in the old Ozanam Community Centre (now the Homelessness Resource Centre at Ozanam House).

Damien is now a Peer Worker in a rehab facility in Geelong and still makes time to apply his skills and experience as a volunteer at Ozanam House. He assists with the evening meal service monthly on a Sunday and supports the O Café by mentoring our Client Volunteer baristas.

Damien’s lived experience is invaluable in coordinating monthly LGBTQIA+ sessions for our clients and residents, as well as recognition week events such as IDAHOBIT Day. He generously shared his experience, which helped inform our practice and contributed to VincentCare attaining Rainbow Tick Accreditation in 2018.

In 2019, Damien won the VincentCare Volunteer of the Year Award. He says, “Volunteering gave me the structure and confidence to begin to build a great life for myself.”

Thank you, Damien, and all our volunteers. Want to volunteer too? Click here to start your volunteer journey today.