RIGHT AT HOME
CBD HOMELESS: Street camp grows as reports Melbourne rough sleepers moving to Geelong
THE city’s homeless population has reached “unprecedented” numbers, with rough sleepers relocating from Melbourne to Geelong.
Mayor Bruce Harwood said the council had been “caught off guard” by the number of people who have come into the Geelong CBD to sleep, with a makeshift camp on Little Malop St quickly growing.
THE city’s homeless population has reached “unprecedented” numbers, with rough sleepers relocating from Melbourne to Geelong.
Mayor Bruce Harwood said Geelong had been “caught off guard” by the number of people who had come into the CBD to sleep.
“We have always had a homeless population but this is unprecedented,” Cr Harwood said.
A camp of rough sleepers set up outside of 7-Eleven in Little Malop St has expanded in recent weeks, with no sign of them moving on.
They have this week been seen drinking cask wine, sitting among trolleys with blankets, a bucket and even fishing rods.
Cr Harwood said part of the problem was homeless people migrating from Melbourne.
SalvoConnect Barwon network director Lorrinda Hamilton has backed his claims, saying her organisating had seen an increase in homeless people moving from Melbourne to seek refuge in Geelong streets, most notably the Geelong mall precinct.
“What we’re hearing now is that has started to become the case, and that is a shift, but we haven’t been able to drill down on why that is,” Ms Hamilton said.
“We’re trying to understand whether it’s a seasonal thing in Geelong, or if that’s attributed to something that’s going on elsewhere.”
Last month, the Geelong Advertiser reported SalvoConnect Barwon network had been unsuccessful in its bid for funding distributed through the State Government’s rough sleepers’ action plan, which is aimed at supporting people with complex needs.
Neami National was the successful provider locally.
Neami National’s spokeswoman, Rebecca Benson, said its Assertive Outreach team had started foot patrols to engage with people in need in a bid to provide emergency housing and work towards long-term solutions for the homeless into mid-2019.
“The aim of the new service is to assist people who are experiencing homelessness or sleeping rough to successfully obtain and maintain housing, improve physical and mental health and develop connections within the local community,” Ms Benson said.
“Over the longer term, case co-ordination will focus on connection with services that will meet an individual’s longer term needs.”
She said teams had also started meeting local retailers to “build relationships and raise awareness of the services and support” being made available.
“We have always had a homeless population but this is unprecedented.” BRUCE HARWOOD