Homelessness horror stories

By Jonathon Howard

HORROR STORIES from residents sleeping rough across the Tweed Shire continue to set a sombre tone for Homelessness Week, which commenced on Monday, August 7.

Every night people are sleeping rough in their cars and some are even sleeping next to car parks or abandoned buildings across the Tweed.

Affordable housing and more rentals remain at the top of the list for many local service providers, as residents continue to struggle to put a roof over their heads.

During the week, homelessness services and community groups educate the community and advocate for change via national and local community events and the media.

This year, Homelessness Week, which concludes on Sunday, August 13, has the theme: “It’s time to end homelessness” — but the struggles go on for many. Sadly, the situation for many homeless people is only getting worse, as they grapple with a lack of affordable housing, skyrocketing rental prices and a flood of applicants vying for rentals.

To find out more, The Weekly contacted several homeless shelters and spoke with representatives about the situation.

One shelter staff member, who preferred to remain anonymous, is experiencing a surge in client numbers and things are not getting better.

The staff member said the facility is seeing about 90 to 125 people per day with a range of needs.

Many people are victims of the increasing rental crisis and lack of affordable housing, which is continually pushing out those who are most vulnerable and driving up prices, according to the staff member.

“In fact, finding a rental in the Tweed Shire has never been more difficult,” the staff member said.

“I personally found trying to find a rental extremely difficult.

“I attended several open homes from Kingscliff to Tugun over a month, with more than 300 applicants at some of the open homes.”

The staff member said the competition was so fierce one couple offered up 12 months’ worth of rent to get them over the line, or close to $30,000 upfront.

There are also suggestions that some applicants are allegedly offering owners more money than the listing price.

“Some of the properties are shocking as well and they’re charging upwards of $550 per week with mould and that are rundown,” the staff member said.

A quick search on Realestate. com.au for the cheapest rental in Murwillumbah reveals a single bedroom unit in the CBD for $350 per week.

The cheapest home in Murwillumbah is going for $550 for a three-bedroom duplex.

Over at Tweed Heads, the cheapest unit is going for $370 per week for a two-bedroom unit on Stanley Street.

Meanwhile, the cheapest house at Tweed Heads will set you back $560 per week for a semi-detached duplex.

Tweed Palliative Support president Meredith Dennis said the secondhand shops have been “extremely busy” with requests for blankets, sheets, towels and essentials.

“The shops have never been busier,” she said.

“It’s all due to rents and the lack of rentals, cost of living and rate increases.”

When asked what the answer is to achieve the theme of Homelessness Week, Ms Dennis, said “more housing — upwards not outwards”.

“There’s a desperate need for more affordable housing,” she said.

“There needs to be a fresh wave of social housing.

“We may need to look at how we live and whether studio apartments and small units for single residents.

“We also need to go up not outwards around developing.”

What the research says

DEMAND FOR assistance from St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s homelessness and housing services has increased over the past year as a result of the worsening cost of living and housing crises.

“Our homelessness and housing services assisted 9,024 people in the past financial year, increasing by 4.9 per cent from 12 months earlier,” said Yolanda Saiz, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO.

“The Society’s capacity to meet the soaring demand for assistance has concerningly been stretched with unassisted requests for support from our homelessness and housing services increasing by 81 per cent to 2,690 over the past year.

“We have been able to secure stable accommodation for 53 per cent of people supported by our Specialist Homelessness Services, 50 per cent of clients at risk of homelessness were assisted to maintain housing, while 40 per cent of people who were homeless prior to receiving support are now in stable housing.”

The leading reasons for people seeking assistance from St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s homelessness and housing services were: domestic and family violence (29.1 per cent); housing crisis such as eviction (15.9 per cent); inadequate or inappropriate housing conditions (8.7 per cent); housing affordability, for example rental increase (8.2 per cent); and relationship/family breakdown (7.4 per cent).

More than 57,000 applicants –the equivalent of 125,000 people – are currently on the waitlist for social housing in NSW.

By Jonathon Howard

VOLUNTEERS WITH Tweedbased charity Head Over Hooves Inc, who help vulnerable animals in need, are extremely concerned that pounds and shelters are overflowing with a high number of pets being surrendered due to the cost of living/homelessness/rental and post-COVID crises.

This week, as part of Homelessness Week, Head Over Hooves said addressing pet homelessness can help to address human homelessness.

“Many experiencing homelessness also have pets, in fact, choosing homelessness over parting with their treasured family member and soulmate, when dire decisions have to be made on how to allocate scarce resources,” Head Over Hooves group spokesperson Susie Hearder said.

“This includes people living in their cars with both dogs and cats, as rentals and crisis accommodation may not be pet friendly.

“This has led to a new focus: to help people and their pets who are doing it tough in our community to stay together and avoid ending up in a pound or shelter.”

Head Over Hooves president Ker- ri Martin said this is essential to the health and well-being of both the person and the pet.

“Mental health benefits of having a pet are well documented,” she said.

“For someone experiencing homelessness, they may feel that their pet is their soul reason for living.”