In an empty Young street, night after night, slept a man in his car containing everything he owned, perhaps too withdrawn, too embarrassed, too broken to ask for help.
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Each morning a Salvation Army volunteer would deliver him a warm cup of coffee until one day he just up and disappeared.
The man is part of what is called the “hidden homeless” – they might have a car to sleep in or a couch to crash on, keeping them out of sight, but they exist and are in desperate need of help.
This week is Homeless Persons Week, which this year aims to raise awareness on the issue. The national peak body for homelessness,
Homelessness Australia reports only six per cent of people experiencing homelessness are on the street.
Salvation Army corps leader Laurie Anderson said last week the church had three men come in who were couch surfing but there were far more than that going under the radar.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “We have people coming to Young that are not coming to us.”
Laurie told of a problem in Young that would alarm most people, including youths from dysfunctional families sleeping under our bridges.
“People are sleeping in the streets, people are sleeping in their cars on the street,” he said.
“There are people here that are sleeping in parks the way they sleep in parks in Sydney - they see it as an acceptable way of life.”
Laurie said a lack of affordable housing in Young was a major part of the problem, with many more struggling to maintain the housing they just held on to.
He said he knew of one man who was receiving a $490 a fortnight Newstart payment from Centrelink of which he spent $400 on rent, leaving him with $45 a week for bills and food.
Young Crisis Accommodation Centre (YCAC) coordinator Gwen Gunning and caseworker Zoe Nott said cuts to the parental payment reducing income by $150 a fortnight were pushing people to the edge.
“That equates to the bills or a portion of the rent that they had been relying on,” Zoe said.
Zoe and Gwen said a NSW Housing grant offering a loan for three weeks rent when moving into a new place just put people into further debt.
“They are out the back door before they start again,” Gwen said. “The circle of poverty is continued,” Zoe said.
In the first nine months of last financial year, YCAC – which is funded to provide temporary accommodation for women and their children – was occupied for 95 per cent of the time.
While Laurie said for men who found themselves homeless in Young, there was little to no support, with Argyle Housing offering limited temporary housing.
“We have no ability to provide temporary accommodation for males in Young,” he said.
Laurie said there was no one “magic bullet” to solve homelessness, with a complex list of reasons people could find themselves with nowhere to live.
This included mental illness, financial struggles, drug and alcohol problem, family break-downs, trauma and domestic violence.
This meant a homeless person could be in need of a number of community services, requiring an integrated approach.
To address this issue a federal and state funded Homelessness Action Plan Program was developed in 2010 with the aim of reforming NSW’s community services.
Just recently the NSW Family and Community Services (FACS) boundaries were altered so that Young now falls within the program’s catchment area, meaning solutions to the ones mentioned above may be on their way.
In July, a panel of representatives from Young’s community services met for the first time and will now meet monthly to collaboratively address the needs of individuals in Young experiencing or who are at risk of homelessness.
Regional Development Australia Murray Homelessness Action Plan Program Manager Sherri Makepeace said the approach included integrated case management, increased funding to carry that out and the development of strategies to address the problem at its core.
“The group provides a platform that will identify systemic issues that lead to homelessness,” she said. “We have seen a 78 per cent success rate in assessing clients to maintain long term tenancy.”
Gwen welcomed the initiative -“It will be an awesome thing for our community.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing homeless, call the Homeless Persons Information Centre hotline on 1800 234 566 or Child Protection Helpline on 132 111.
