How did you spend your night last Friday?
For the team at Holistic Foot Clinic, ours was something special: working alongside the “Reaching Out Because We Can” charity to deliver volunteer foot care to those lacking a home in the Melbourne CBD.
The team at “ROBWC” together with The Salvation Army and Melbourne City Council made us feel very welcome from the moment of arrival at their inviting “cafe” setup off Bourke Street. Each week they host an evening handing out “You Are Special” bags full of non perishable foods, clothing and blankets to the less fortunate as well as providing a safe place for them to rest their heads for the night.
For us there was no time for food or rest as there were plenty of lovely people whose feet were in drastic need of some podiatric attention!
From ankle & foot pains, to blisters, fungal infections, and simply really long toenails – many of the people attending the shelter had the same conditions we assist our clinic patients with on a daily basis.
New for us however was the idea that many of the people we saw that night had little-to-no access to basic hygiene facilities (even a simple nail clipper), and often had very little concept of the importance of foot care and the simple ways in which they could avoid problems like nail pain (such as ill fitting footwear).
Podiatry has always given a great sense of reward and knowledge that you’re making a difference to your patient’s daily lives, but for Owner and Head Podiatrist, Chantel Zappone and myself, that feeling of contribution and giving back is very rewarding; especially seeing the smiles on the faces on those we were able to help on Friday night.
Our deepest thanks to Founder Elisa Mineo and the team at “Reaching Out Because We Can” for giving us the opportunity to work with these amazing people. It may have been our first time helping the less fortunate in such a hands-on (feet) way, but it definitely won’t be our last, we can not wait to make this a regular event on the Holistic calendar!
Caelin Ling
Podiatrist – Holistic Foot Clinic
