‘No simple answer’ to homelessness

AHorsham resident who helped a homeless man after learning of his plight on social media has praised the community for its support, but believes more needs to be done to combat the issue in the region.

Matt Whelan was scrolling through Facebook on Friday night when he saw a post from a woman concerned about ‘an elderly man pitching his tent at the post office’ and decided to do something about it.

Mr Whelan went to the post office, gave the man – Kym – some money and offered a hotel for the night.

“He said he was fine, but I couldn’t sleep that night, so I went back in the morning,” Mr Whelan said.

“I took him to a caravan park but it was closed, which threw a spanner in the works, so I took him home and he had a shower and a cup of coffee.

“I then saw Grant at the Royal Hotel and forked out for three nights to get him up and running. I’m a single Dad so I couldn’t afford more, but I just wanted to do what I could.”

By this time, the original Facebook post had generated a significant amount of interest from people showing concern and asking how they could help.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen, but suddenly I was the go-to man for the whole thing,” Mr Whelan said.

“A few people offered to pay for a night’s accommodation and they called the Royal to organise it. Some people paid for meals and others dropped off food.

“There were people offering rooms, but there are often a whole lot of underlying issues in these situations and I didn’t feel right about that, because it’s a safety thing. It was nice of them to offer though.

“I can’t comprehend the amount of amazing people willing to help Kym.”

Uniting Wimmera provides housing and homelessness support throughout the region.

Mr Whelan said he arranged for Kym to speak about his options with an intake team member. He said, unfortunately, things did not go well.

“Kym got a bit intimidated by the intake stuff,” he said.

“He wasn’t comfortable with all the questions and I think he was worried they were trying to take what little bit of independence he had left.

“Kym told me that he was now getting a little bit of money from Centrelink and that he was hoping to arrange a weekly rate at the Royal.

“He thanked me for my help and told me he would be right from here, so there’s not much I can do now.

“At the end of the day, you can only do so much. You can’t help everyone or save everyone, at some point they have to be responsible for what happens next. Now, it’s up to Kym.”

Some comfort

Mr Whelan said although he was disappointed in the outcome, he was proud of the efforts of his community to ‘show support, care, help and kindness towards a stranger’.

“I like to think no matter what happens, everyone should take comfort in knowing they kept a fellow human alive, fed and warm, even for just a couple of weeks,” he said.

“To me it’s fantastic, that you can better someone’s life as easy as that.”

Mr Whelan said although he did not plan to become so involved in Kym’s situation, he would take positives from the experience.

“I feel like I have learnt from it and grown as a person a bit more,” he said.

“I have also been able to teach my son a lesson and I think it was a good experience for the community.

“There are a lot of people out there looking for shelter when we are tucked up in our warm beds at night – I used to be one of them.”

Mr Whelan said his experience with homelessness was a driving force behind his desire to help Kym.

He said although community services were well-meaning, they often lacked hands-on experience.

“When you’re in the thick of it, your immediate need is somewhere warm and safe to sleep. You don’t want to be answering a heap of questions,” he said.

“There is a lot of red tape to go through in these situations and a lot of people get put off by how hard it is to get help. I wish there was a simple answer, but obviously it is a very complex issue.

“I’m glad that in this situation I was able to help and that there might be a few more people out there who now realise homelessness is an issue in our community, even though people can’t usually see it.”

People seeking support for homelessness, emergency relief or a range of other community services can call 1800 195 114 free of charge.

Uniting Wimmera chief executive Josh Koenig said a skilled intake team member would refer callers to an appropriate service.

“I understand the intake process can be a bit daunting, particularly for people who have not accessed our services before, which we are seeing a lot more with the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“We do try to make the process as seamless as possible, but there are specific screening questions we need to ask to make sure people are genuine and so we can provide the assistance they need.”

Mr Koenig said people seeking support could appoint a person to advocate on their behalf and could also complete their intake in person, while adhering to physical-distancing restrictions.

He said it was important to note the process was voluntary, and although well-meaning community members often wanted to help, the person requiring support needed to engage with the service.