IF Sydney's wet weather is getting you down, spare a thought for the men, women and children who won't have anywhere safe and warm to sleep tonight.
South Eastern Medicare Local at Kogarah is helping people in Sutherland Shire escape from homelessness through its Partners In Recovery (PIR) assertive street outreach program.
The program helps people sleeping on the streets in Cronulla, Sutherland and the Royal National Park connect with government and community support services which suit their individual needs.
Outreach is in partnership with Neami National community mental health service provider with the help of organisations such as Shire Community Services and Sutherland Shire Council.
Ryan Saunderson is a PIR support facilitator at Neami National, and goes out each Tuesday morning and Wednesday night to visit homeless people in the shire.
"In our outreach, we only target people who are sleeping on the streets, but there's a lot of homelessness in the area, people who might be sleeping in the cars, fleeing domestic violence, people who might be couch surfing," Mr Saunderson said.
PIR has helped four homeless people into housing in the shire. Among those was a single mother with a child.
Sutherland Shire Council estimates that there are around 30 people sleeping rough in the Royal National Park and 15 in urban areas.
Sleeping rough or in an improvised dwelling constitutes primary homelessness (see story, right).
"I think there are legitimate barriers for someone who has been sleeping in the national park for five years," Mr Saunderson said.
"There's certainly a want to improve their circumstances but sometimes there's difficulty accessing services.
"The resounding thing that we've found is that these people are extremely resilient.
"People have had a lot of awful life experiences, so it is a really slow process with some, and others just need a foot in."
PIR manager Catherine Warden said: "Research shows that living on the streets reduces your life expectancy by up to 30 years".
"We also know that the model we use works, so that if people are given opportunities with a lot of support then they can do well and have hope for the future, whatever that looks like for them," she said.
The St Vincent de Paul Society estimates that more than 28,000 people experience homelessness in NSW.
Factors that can contribute to homelessness include domestic and family violence, mental illness, relationship breakdown, job loss and lack of affordable housing.
On the night of the 2006 census, 850 St George and shire residents indicated they were sleeping rough, "couch surfing", living in a boarding house, or in supported accommodation. This figure is likely to be much higher now though, given homeless in Australia has increased in the past 30 years.
PIR aims to support people with severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs and their carers and families by getting sectors, services and support they may have contact with (and could benefit from) to work in a more integrated way.
It is run in eight local health districts in Sydney but not all provide assertive street outreach.
South Eastern Sydney Medicare Local was created in July 2012 by the Commonwealth Department of Health to ensure local primary health care services work together to meet and improve the health needs of the local community.
Details: South Eastern Sydney Medicare Local, 9330 9900; sesml.org.au
It’s not a stereotype
There are a number of different types of homelessness, including:
Primary: People without conventional accommodation, e.g. sleeping rough or in improvised dwellings.
Secondary: Experienced by people who frequently move from one temporary shelter to another, e.g. emergency accommodation, youth refuges, living with friends, I.e. ‘‘couch surfing’’.
Tertiary: Experienced by people staying in accommodation that falls below minimum community standards, e.g. boarding house or caravan park.
Have your experienced homelessness? What do you think is the best way to find homes for people?
