They arrive sometimes wet or dirty, with bags crammed full of things, or with nothing but the clothes they're wearing.

Everyone is welcome to a feed, to do their washing and take a shower - a long one.

"We never say, 'you've been in the shower too long', because they're just chilling out, especially in winter time when they come with their sleeping bag and blankets and everything's cold and wet," said Mr Gervaise, a Bellambi grandfather who operators the trailer from the helm of a Christian-based not-for-profit, Fresh Start Missions Inc.

"Our showers have got a six-inch basin in the bottom, so some of the homeless will block it with a bath mat, and make it into a bath.

"We don't limit anyone because I find showers are very therapeutic. To see a smile on someone's face afterwards - just a smile. Their whole demeanor changes once they've had a shower and clean clothes."

With its six washing machines, six dryers, three showers, two 1000-litre water tanks and on-board generator, Gervaise's custom-built $145,000 trailer is a 30-foot monument to thinking big.

It was almost entirely funded by four volunteers including Mr Gervaise, who partly channelled profits from his asphalting business, Illawarra Sprayseal, towards his grand vision.

The trailer first took to the road in January 2020, when it was deployed to Batemans Bay to provide amenities to bushfire victims. It later made regular visits to Port Kembla until repeated violent episodes with one visitor forced volunteers to move on. Today the trailer visits Sydney locations and - as of last month, on Friday evenings - Wollongong's Burelli Street.

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The trailer was manufactured in Brisbane to Mr Gervaise's specifications, which he says came from God himself.

"God gave me a vision to build it, in December 2017," he said.

"My wife said, 'what are you doing up at four in the morning?'. I said, 'drawing this out'."

"The sides of the trailer lift up. The reason is, he [God] said, 'don't be above people, handing food down to them, because we're all equal'."

The 56-year-old was a vocal atheist until a chance encounter with a pastor while holidaying in London in 2012 caused him to convert to Christianity.

He says Fresh Start's generous offering merely mirrors the standards he sets for himself: fresh bread bought that morning, food that his family would eat themselves and no taking away from the charity, under any circumstances.

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"The way we've set up the charity, no one gets paid. It annoys me when people who run charities get $300,000 for sitting on a board," he said.

"If we stop doing this, everything gets donated to another charity. That's how charity should work."

In COVID times, the trailer dispenses hand sanitiser and bacteria wipes. Visitors are sent away with their belongings washed and dried, fabric softener included.

"One lady smelled her clothes and she said, 'how do you make it smell so nice?'. It's because my wife buys the same stuff that we use at home."

The Fresh Start Trailer parks on Burelli Street, opposite MacCabe Park, on Fridays from 5pm.

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