Help to spread the warmth
Uniting Wimmera is asking people across the region to ‘dig deep’ and donate to help purchase essential items for those sleeping rough this winter.
Donating to Uniting’s ‘Spread the Warmth’ winter appeal will help the service buy a blanket for people experiencing homelessness or doing it tough.
A $29 donation will help Uniting purchase a blanket, a $100 donation will buy pyjamas for a family of four and $230 will buy two water and windproof swags.
The service provider is also asking for donations of new blankets, jackets, pyjamas and winter woollies – items must be brand new with tags.
Uniting Wimmera executive officer Josh Koenig said hundreds of people across the Wimmera were sleeping rough or struggling to make ends meet.
He said the demand for homelessness support services was growing and becoming more difficult to manage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The wait list is growing and we’re finding it difficult to transition people through to our transitional properties as they’re all full,” he said.
“We’re managing on average four scheduled appointments each day, and along with people seeking crisis support who might be experiencing family violence or getting evicted from their rentals, we’d have nearly 30 people a week seeking homelessness support.
“Many people in our community are really struggling, and if you’re experiencing homelessness or don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you’re constantly in survival mode.”
Mr Koenig said the appeal would help the service provide essential items most people took for granted. “We need to make sure our rough sleepers out in the Wimmera get what we take for granted every day,” he said.
“No one should be sleeping ongoing in a tent. People sleeping like this in an ongoing matter is simply unacceptable.
“The appeal is really important in the colder months to help people be as comfortable and as safe as they can be.
“Even people lucky enough to have housing are often forced to choose between purchasing food or paying for electricity.
“These are the people hardest hit in the colder months.”
Mr Koenig said donations made by people who lived in the Wimmera would help Wimmera people doing it tough.
“This appeal will support people in our community who are homeless or living below the poverty line, giving them the winter woolies, they need to get through the next few months,” he said.
Online donations can be made by visiting www.unitingvictas.org.au.
Donations of new items can be made at Uniting Wimmera, 185 Baillie Street, Horsham.
“Many people in our community are really struggling, and if you are experiencing homelessness or don’t know where your next meal is coming from, you are constantly in survival mode” – Josh Koenig