Ms Serong has lived in Wagga for 15 years and finds it difficult to make ends meet. 

Now she attends a free barbecue breakfast each Friday at the Victory Memorial Gardens, where she finally feels at home. 

“If you didn’t have this you wouldn’t eat, it’s good to know someone can help you if you need it,” she said. 

“You know without fail you can come here and get a free feed.” 

Ms Serong said she “feels like an equal” when attending the barbecue. 

“Everyone has their own hard story but it’s a good environment down here at the park,” she said. 

“You can barely get by on your own and you want to give your family the best but it all costs money.” 

Ms Serong said Wagga needed more support for residents struggling to get by. 

Wellways Community connections coordinator David Bauer said the free barbecue aims to provide assistance for people who are sleeping rough on the streets. 

“It extends to anyone at risk of being homeless,” he said. 

“We thought why not just bring the services as a weekly hub and build up some consistency. 

“With the nomadic clientele of the people I work with it can be hard to follow up with appointments with a lack of phones and being able to stay in contact.”

Mr Bauer said the program has been running for 12 weeks, with numbers varying from 10 to 40 people each week.  

“Not only does it provide nutrition it’s also a great social outlet for people to come down and have a yarn,” he said. 

“They can engage with people in a context which they normally wouldn’t be able to do.” 

Mr Bauer said the Family and Community Services funding was secured until the end of the financial year and was likely to be reinstated. 

The barbecue is held each Friday to help with housing support from 10am.