It’s a few days late, I’ve been busy. Coming up to the first round of uni assessments.

On Friday, I took to the streets to meet the people from Streat , an opportunity offered thanks to RMIT.

These guys are pretty amazing (Streat…RMIT are too though). Streat is an endeavour to give disadvantaged and homeless young people access to training they would otherwise have a hell of a lot of trouble getting, fees being what they are.

Streat trainees gain a Cert II in Hospitality, with on-the-job training at Streat’s food cart at Federation Square, as well as “ensuring holistic care and well‐being to trainees within its programs.”
…and their food is amaaaaaazing. Healthy, filling, and genuinely interesting.

We spent the day exploring the city and responding to it in our own ways. I got my pen on it, and what came out actually really surprised me. I didn’t get a chance to spend time with one of the Streat trainees apart from the initial meet-and-greet and the debriefing afterwards. From what other people bought back, they really had some stories to tell, and sometimes those stories weren’t that far from our own.

Throughout the day, we text-messaged our bite-sized stories back to a central Streat number. There were about 25 people participating, and they got 87 texts by the end of the day.

They’ve already posted a few of these on the Streat Blog. One of mine is there; the one about the alley.

What I thought was really nice was how spontaneous all these little stories feel, and how they’re absolutely anonymous – you can’t tell an RMIT student’s story from a Streat trainee’s story.

I also found it refreshing to realise that I can pull satisfying images out of memories.

Streat are in discussions with Fed Square as to the final presentation of these stories, will keep you updated on what happens with them.

In the mean time, get down and eat some of Streat’s food, support an awesome cause!