Devan Pillay is an educated young guy who works as a sales assistant and barista at Mission Australia's Café One in Brisbane. Devan tells us a little more about Café One and how easy it would have been for him to end up on the other side of the counter.

The idea behind Cafe One is a place where people can forget their troubles, get something cheap to eat and access services they might need, in a space where they can feel comfortable. The food and coffee brings people in, but when they are here they can access the free legal clinic on Thursdays, a nurse on Wednesdays, and Centrelink comes in as well.

I started volunteering at Café One in November 2007 and took on a job here as the sales assistant and barista last April, 2010. If I wasn't at Café One I'm not sure what I'd be doing. Before I started volunteering and then working here, my own life had very little direction. I was unemployed before I came across the cafe and even though I had studied at university and tried different jobs I couldn't find a place where I felt comfortable. Here, I can help other people and feel at home as well.

My favourite part of being at Café One is seeing how people change as they keep coming in. There was one Indigenous couple that were coming in here for meals a few years ago, and one day I came in to the cafe and they told me they had just come back from a visit to one of their mothers. It may not sound like a big thing, but it was the first time they had visited her in a decade!

This is the best part of my job; the relationships I have built with the people who come in. I remember one tough day recently I had with a new client. It was the other clients who spent the time to cheer me up afterwards. Their compassion amazes me each day. It gives me a sense of belonging when I realise that someone whose life is much harder than mine is trying to cheer me up.

Yesterday I was told we were the closest thing one client has to a family and when I walk down the street after work I sometimes even hear my name being cheered as I go past some of our clients. It makes me feel really appreciated.

Young people, like me, often just need someone to support them and help them to help themselves. For example, some young people may be homeless because they don't have the advice, references and documentation they need to rent a house. If someone can sit down with them, help them get what they need and advocate for them, it's a lot easier for them to find a way out of their situation.

I didn't really have a job for about seven years and had my own problems in my life, but I was lucky to have the support of my family and friends to help me work through it. If it wasn't for them I could so easily have been one of our clients. Not everyone is so fortunate. It's places like Café One that make up the difference and help people in need to change their lives and participate in the community.