EVERY second Friday night, a food trailer pulls into the Young Street car park in Frankston, and the smell of a barbecue drifts into the dark. No invitation is needed, and no one is turned away.
The trailer belongs to Life-Gate Inc, a Frankston charity that many locals have never heard of, despite the hundreds of lives it touches each year.
CEO Lauryn Hornby has been part of the organisation for 20 years and says the fortnightly event is central to what Life-Gate is about.
“The heart and purpose of it is a community barbecue, and anyone’s welcome,” she said.
“We have a passion to reach out to and assist people who are battling with addiction or homelessness, but it’s not just restricted to those people.
“Some of those who come along have a home, they’ve got work, but they just feel a bit isolated or alone.”
Hot food is served from 7pm to 9pm, though volunteers stay as long as anyone needs them. After that, the team heads out on foot for street patrols and crisis assistance.
Life-Gate was founded in 1992 by husband-and-wife team, Rev Angel Roldán and Pastor Ulli Roldán, who led the organisation for 33 years without ever drawing a salary. Together they were named Frankston Citizens of the Year in 2017. Ulli passed away last year but Angel, now 81, remains with the organisation full time.
Hornby stepped into the CEO role in July 2025. She founded their Colour of Hope art-therapy program in 2012, designed and built the Meals for Change mobile kitchen trailer in 2018, and in 2019 was herself named Frankston Citizen of the Year.
Almost everyone at Life-Gate works on a voluntary basis – Hornby is the sole person on a small retainer. With approximately 40 volunteers across the organisation, she said a shared personal connection was what set the team apart.
“Everyone’s here because they’re passionate, and they’ve either been a recipient, or had a family member battling with addiction or homelessness who was a recipient, or they just have a heart to reach out to the community,” she said.
“Some of our volunteers are psych nurses – they’re already doing jobs that are a tough gig, but then in their own time they come and volunteer on top.”
From its centre at 1a Olsen St, Life-Gate offers free professional counselling for children, adolescents and adults across a wide range of issues including addiction, depression, anxiety, domestic violence, grief and relationship breakdown.
Weekly life-skills training covers topics from communication and brain health to family and marriage.
The Colour of Hope is a 17-week art-therapy program for at-risk youth, combining workshops, weekly art classes, one-on-one mentoring and personal counselling.
Life-Gate also runs a community pantry and an op shop at the centre, and offers student placements for those studying counselling, community services or youth work. Hornby said demand on the community pantry was outstripping capacity.
“Our community pantry is barely keeping up with the need that we’re seeing, so if that’s something that people have a heart for, whether it’s us or another organisation, donating food makes a massive difference to families that are doing it really hard.”
She said Life-Gate was actively seeking volunteers across all ages and backgrounds.
“Our volunteers are many cultures, many ages, many stages of life,” she said.
“When people read our impact report or see what we’re doing, I always get people saying, ‘I can’t believe how much you guys do with so little.”
The Meals for Change community event runs fortnightly on Friday nights at the Young St car park, with upcoming dates listed at life-gate.org.
First published in the Mornington News – 16 June 2026
