Charity concert Rockin' 4 The Homeless is on again in April and organiser Dan Nebe is hoping to make a bigger impact than ever with homelessness in the Redcliffe area.
Dan heads a group of local musicians who are the driving force behind Rockin' 4 The Homeless, which they run to help support local charity service The Breakfast Club.
“They're fully self-funded and they don’t have any grants so we decided four or five years ago to support them,” Dan says.
“Homelessness doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pushing a shopping trolley around sleeping under the jetty.”
“That’s the end result: the money raised, 100 per cent of every cent raised goes to those guys and they provide quite a lot of services to the community.
“The first three shows we did, we only averaged around the $20,000 mark per show, then last year we raised just under $70,000.”
In his time running the event, Dan says he has seen real-world change that has been implemented as a direct result of the vital support Rockin' 4 The Homeless provides The Breakfast Club.
“We’ve opened a hub for the homeless to go to and what that means is they can come in and charge their phone, have a shower, wash their clothes, get some clothes, get some food and get some outreach services from Centrelink and mental health services.”
Dan is also a member of the band Team Utopia and uses his industry connections to secure some pretty sweet bands to perform.
This year, Dan presents a solid line-up of acts that is headlined by Hoodoo Gurus Unplugged – the acoustic version of the iconic group – as well as Sabrina Lawrie & The Hunting Party, Diana Anaid, The Pretty Fingers and more.
“It’s growing and growing each year, and the interest out here is amazing,” Dan says.
“We’ve got some very intense sponsors that have come onboard. For instance, we’re running a raffle leading up to the event and that’s a trip for two to Reading Festival with all airfares and accommodation in Reading, plus three nights accommodation in London.”
Dan himself has experienced homelessness in his lifetime, hence his drive to rally support for services that help those in need.
He warns against the stereotypical assumptions that homelessness only happens to the extremely poor or those suffering from mental illness. “Homelessness doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pushing a shopping trolley around sleeping under the jetty,” he says.
“Homelessness can be from domestic violence where a wife has left home with the kids and they’re living in the car; you can be new to the area and sleeping in the car. At the end of the day, it’s increasing and the services are still under pressure.”
Rockin' 4 The Homeless takes place at Redcliffe Leagues Club (Brisbane) 28 April.
