Many of Bass Coast’s most disadvantaged residents are on the brink of a housing crisis.
By Geoff Ellis
MICKY has just shared a meal at Mitchell House*. He checks to see if anyone can hear him down the hallway as he steps up to the front counter. “I’m homeless,” he tells the volunteer behind that counter. “Can you help me?”
He’s the second person to ask Sue that question today. Earlier, Marg, an older woman, was looking for a place to park. She’s sleeping in her car while she gets her life back on track. But this guy doesn’t own a car. Sue rings SalvoCare.
Meanwhile, Kel gathers a few essentials from the free food stall on the front veranda. People can take what they need without having to ask. Kel really appreciates the fresh food and plans her menu around what’s available. Pasta, tomato sauce and a tin of tuna will make a good meal tonight.
MICKY has just shared a meal at Mitchell House*. He checks to see if anyone can hear him down the hallway as he steps up to the front counter. “I’m homeless,” he tells the volunteer behind that counter. “Can you help me?”
He’s the second person to ask Sue that question today. Earlier, Marg, an older woman, was looking for a place to park. She’s sleeping in her car while she gets her life back on track. But this guy doesn’t own a car. Sue rings SalvoCare.
Meanwhile, Kel gathers a few essentials from the free food stall on the front veranda. People can take what they need without having to ask. Kel really appreciates the fresh food and plans her menu around what’s available. Pasta, tomato sauce and a tin of tuna will make a good meal tonight.
Jessica Harrison, a volunteer at Mitchell House and convenor of the Wonthaggi Branch of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, started the stall at the beginning of the pandemic. She says she had no idea it would still be running a year later.
Donations from the community help to keep the free food stall stocked. Volunteers collect food from outlets; fresh vegies and fruit come from the nearby Harvest Centre.
“It’s lovely to arrive to fill the boxes and find them already full of donated food or garden produce,” Jessica says, “but the demand is growing and usually the food is gone just hours after it arrives.”
Each week a couple of people turn up at Mitchell House asking for help to obtain emergency housing. People report that they have been sleeping rough in parks, empty buildings and bushland around Wonthaggi.
Over a much-needed cuppa, Ian Richie, service manager at the centre, explains to them that the centre doesn't provide homelessness services but can provide referrals to appropriate services in the local area.
The nearest homelessness service provider is in Leongatha, so phone contact is required as most people seeking help don’t have their own transport, phone credit or internet.
“We offer to call the service provider to start the conversation. Appointments are made and people leave with information and more support than when they arrived.
“We also see a constant stream of people asking for financial support to buy food, purchase fuel, etc. Again, we provide referral information to the local emergency relief services who can assist with food/fuel vouchers.”
As the call goes through to SalvoCare in Leongatha, Micky talks about his situation.
“Right now, I could do with a shower, but there is nowhere to go, especially with the lockdown. It really gets to you after a while, having to watch your stuff all day and not knowing where to sleep."
At the other end of the line, a person from SalvoCare explains that the SalvoCare Doorways Centre provides emergency relief in the form of food parcels and vouchers for people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Case management and financial counselling is also available.
SalvoCare can also help find crisis accommodation, make referrals to other specialised services and help to make applications for housing while being the contact person for the client. Micky listens intently.
Emergency accommodation is available in Morwell, but Micky’s family live in Wonthaggi. None of them own a car so visits from the fragmented family would become five-hour return expeditions by public transport. It’s up to him to choose.
It’s a big wrench. “What about a tent?” Micky asks. “I know someone else who got one.”
At least Marg has a car to sleep in. But she needs to find somewhere to park that will minimise the risk to her safety and that’s near amenities. And then she has to run the gauntlet of Local Law # 1.
In Bass Coast “camping” is defined as sleeping in tents, caravans, campervans, mobile homes, vehicles (including sleeping under vehicles) for all or part of a night or as temporary accommodation. A brief power nap in a vehicle beside a highway is OK but anything longer risks a fine.
If someone spots Marg’s clandestine camping they might call the police. When an officer attends they will ask Marg to move on. She can’t drive all night and that thin blue line is stretched pretty thin. There are increasing reports of people sleeping in cars or camping in reserves.
Donations from the community help to keep the free food stall stocked. Volunteers collect food from outlets; fresh vegies and fruit come from the nearby Harvest Centre.
“It’s lovely to arrive to fill the boxes and find them already full of donated food or garden produce,” Jessica says, “but the demand is growing and usually the food is gone just hours after it arrives.”
Each week a couple of people turn up at Mitchell House asking for help to obtain emergency housing. People report that they have been sleeping rough in parks, empty buildings and bushland around Wonthaggi.
Over a much-needed cuppa, Ian Richie, service manager at the centre, explains to them that the centre doesn't provide homelessness services but can provide referrals to appropriate services in the local area.
The nearest homelessness service provider is in Leongatha, so phone contact is required as most people seeking help don’t have their own transport, phone credit or internet.
“We offer to call the service provider to start the conversation. Appointments are made and people leave with information and more support than when they arrived.
“We also see a constant stream of people asking for financial support to buy food, purchase fuel, etc. Again, we provide referral information to the local emergency relief services who can assist with food/fuel vouchers.”
As the call goes through to SalvoCare in Leongatha, Micky talks about his situation.
“Right now, I could do with a shower, but there is nowhere to go, especially with the lockdown. It really gets to you after a while, having to watch your stuff all day and not knowing where to sleep."
At the other end of the line, a person from SalvoCare explains that the SalvoCare Doorways Centre provides emergency relief in the form of food parcels and vouchers for people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Case management and financial counselling is also available.
SalvoCare can also help find crisis accommodation, make referrals to other specialised services and help to make applications for housing while being the contact person for the client. Micky listens intently.
Emergency accommodation is available in Morwell, but Micky’s family live in Wonthaggi. None of them own a car so visits from the fragmented family would become five-hour return expeditions by public transport. It’s up to him to choose.
It’s a big wrench. “What about a tent?” Micky asks. “I know someone else who got one.”
At least Marg has a car to sleep in. But she needs to find somewhere to park that will minimise the risk to her safety and that’s near amenities. And then she has to run the gauntlet of Local Law # 1.
In Bass Coast “camping” is defined as sleeping in tents, caravans, campervans, mobile homes, vehicles (including sleeping under vehicles) for all or part of a night or as temporary accommodation. A brief power nap in a vehicle beside a highway is OK but anything longer risks a fine.
If someone spots Marg’s clandestine camping they might call the police. When an officer attends they will ask Marg to move on. She can’t drive all night and that thin blue line is stretched pretty thin. There are increasing reports of people sleeping in cars or camping in reserves.
*****
According to a report prepared by Bass Coast Shire in 2020, requests for crisis accommodation from SalvoCare Eastern have increased by 47 per cent since 2016.
In that four-year period, SalvoCare assisted 369 people who were sleeping rough. There was an increase of 6 per cent in clients with children under the age of 10 needing housing support.
That council report concluded the key factor contributing to homelessness in Bass Coast was the lack of affordable housing, social housing and crisis accommodation.
If Micky declines the offer of accommodation in Morwell he could apply for private rental accommodation. But he’s behind the eight ball as his application will need to have 100 points of ID, contact details and an address. Plus references from previous landlords, money for a bond and rent in advance.
In this time of shortage, owners can obviously be “discerning” about who gets the keys. A local rental manager, who did not wish to be named, said a few landlords would take a chance on signing a lease with someone who was down on their luck. But there will never be enough to house all the people who are down on their luck.
Since COVID, half the people who rent or pay a mortgage have suffered loss of income. Of the renters, half have received a reduction or a deferment of their rent.
The Victorian Government has put a moratorium on evictions, provided rent relief for eligible tenants and mandated suspension of rental increases. This will all end on 28 March 28. From then rents can increase and the accumulated deferred debt will need to be repaid.
Added to is a new law that forces owners to maintain rental properties to a much higher standard than at present. Although this is obviously a good result for tenants, in the short term it is likely to result in the sale of many properties that can’t be economically brought up to standard.
Many owners of rental properties are struggling to make ends meet so rents could rise to cover the cost of improvements.
People on the frontline warn that April will be a really hard time for people who are already struggling. They worry that the trickle of people walking up to those counters will become a torrent.
Next issue: In the second part of his article on the housing crisis in Bass Coast, Geoff Ellis looks at the response from council, government and welfare services.
* Wonthaggi Neighbourhood Centre
Geoff Ellis is a member of the Wonthaggi Branch of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union and Housing Matters.
In that four-year period, SalvoCare assisted 369 people who were sleeping rough. There was an increase of 6 per cent in clients with children under the age of 10 needing housing support.
That council report concluded the key factor contributing to homelessness in Bass Coast was the lack of affordable housing, social housing and crisis accommodation.
If Micky declines the offer of accommodation in Morwell he could apply for private rental accommodation. But he’s behind the eight ball as his application will need to have 100 points of ID, contact details and an address. Plus references from previous landlords, money for a bond and rent in advance.
In this time of shortage, owners can obviously be “discerning” about who gets the keys. A local rental manager, who did not wish to be named, said a few landlords would take a chance on signing a lease with someone who was down on their luck. But there will never be enough to house all the people who are down on their luck.
Since COVID, half the people who rent or pay a mortgage have suffered loss of income. Of the renters, half have received a reduction or a deferment of their rent.
The Victorian Government has put a moratorium on evictions, provided rent relief for eligible tenants and mandated suspension of rental increases. This will all end on 28 March 28. From then rents can increase and the accumulated deferred debt will need to be repaid.
Added to is a new law that forces owners to maintain rental properties to a much higher standard than at present. Although this is obviously a good result for tenants, in the short term it is likely to result in the sale of many properties that can’t be economically brought up to standard.
Many owners of rental properties are struggling to make ends meet so rents could rise to cover the cost of improvements.
People on the frontline warn that April will be a really hard time for people who are already struggling. They worry that the trickle of people walking up to those counters will become a torrent.
Next issue: In the second part of his article on the housing crisis in Bass Coast, Geoff Ellis looks at the response from council, government and welfare services.
* Wonthaggi Neighbourhood Centre
Geoff Ellis is a member of the Wonthaggi Branch of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union and Housing Matters.