About Vince

Vince was an iconic figure among the homeless in Woolloomooloo for more than 25 years.

He had a normal upbringing and was an apprentice until the onset of schizophrenia in his early twenties. After several hospital admissions he drifted into the inner city, where he accepted treatment at the clinic at the Matthew Talbot Hostel.

However, the medication only reduced, and did not completely stop his symptoms, and he was never able to return to work. Vince preferred to sleep in the open, partly because he was uncomfortable in crowds. After a bout of pneumonia, he finally accepted a one-bedroom Housing Department flat, but by the time of his premature death it had been taken over by drug users.

Vince really needed an individual unit in a community providing protection from exploitation and basic support services, exactly what Habilis aims to provide.