Above: Spence on Light resident John with Michael and Kenneth.
Above: An amazing spread of food at the Sunday Crunch.
The Sunday Crunch Bunch
Each Sunday, the plant- filled space on the ground floor of Spence on Light is transformed into a buzzing community café of sorts, all thanks to two of the building’s residents – Michael and Kenneth De Boo. For Michael and Kenneth, community and connection make life worth living and they were passionate to bring this to life in their new home, the high-density Spence on Light building located in Adelaide’s CBD. Michael and Kenneth moved into Spence on Light in 2022, purchasing an apartment from South Australian retirement living and aged care provider ACH Group. Spence on Light is home to people from all walks of life, with some apartments privately owned, and others managed by ACH Group and Housing Choices South Australia.
“We wanted to ignite the beautiful courtyard. On the weekends it was empty, nothing happened. We wanted people to be able to claim that space, to use it as a community space to meet each other,” said Kenneth. So last September, using a single power point, a water tap and a load of leftover bread, Michael and Kenneth set up a mobile breakfast buffet of French Toast – with an open invite to the local community. There were 16 people at the first Sunday brunch, and they knew they were onto something wonderful. Over the past eight months, there have been more than 500 attendances. From humble beginnings of toast and minimal equipment, Michael and Kenneth have grown what’s now known as ‘The Sunday Crunch’,
with the help of donations from ACH Group and Housing Choices, as well as the residents too. “There are now portable trolleys we can use, permanent seating and an urn that often make 12 big plungers of coffee each week!” said Michael. Watching residents come out of their apartments, take a seat at a table and share food is exactly what they hoped for, and they’ve affectionately named it their ‘vertical village’. “It has been amazing to watch a resident so shy they won’t take a seat, to see them a few weeks later just plonking themselves down comfortably with new friends,” said Michael. One of the regulars, Sandy, explained that despite living in a building full of people, she had still felt quite isolated.
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